^„,«  rf  ft.  »'*.«,  *^^ 


PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


Shelf.. 


Roberts   James,  1839-1906 
A  memorial  of  the  Rbv   t   i 
W-  Dale,  D.D.         '^^"'®' 


C2 


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fjj 


"HE  BEING  DEAD,  YET  SPEAKETH." 


A   MEMORIAL 


OF    THE 


Rev.  James  W.  Dale.  d.d. 


PREPARED 


BY  TH,E 


Rev.  JAMES  ROBERTS.  D.D. 


PRINTED  FOR  PRIVATE  CIRCULATION. 


1886 


Watson  &  McManus, 
'Evans  Printing  House,"  Fourth  &  Library  Sts. 

PHILADELPHIA. 


Ill 


Intraductary. 

Not  long  after  Dr.  Dale's  death,  a  warm  friend  and  former 
parishioner  of  his,  with  the  sanction  of  the  family  of  the  de- 
ceased, requested  the  writer  to  prepare  a  suitable  Memorial  of  his 
life  and  labors.  Only  vaguely  aware  of  the  difficulties  involved 
in  such  an  undertaking  and  prompted  by  a  strong  personal  attach- 
ment, and  deep  appreciation  of  the  sterling  qualities  of  the  man 
of  God,  so  lately  caught  up  from  among  us,  he  was  led,  at  once, 
though  not  without  misgivings  as  to  his  fitness,  to  accept  the 
task  thus  imposed.  In  the  prosecution  of  the  work,  the  conspicu- 
ous absence  of  such  material  as  usually  falls  into  the  hands  of  a 
biographer  soon  became  apparent.  Marked  and  influential  as 
the  life  had  been,  the  written  records  from  which  to  construct  an 
adequate  Memorial  are  almost  wholly  lacking.  No  diary  was 
kept.  No  memoranda  of  personal  experience  remained.  Only  occa- 
sional dates  of  events,  and  a  few  letters  to  his  family  and  friends, 
had  been  casually  preserved.  '  Dr.  Dale  was  a  very  reticent  man 
and  seldom  spoke  of  liimself  or  his  personal  aflairs,  except  to  his 
most  intimate  friends,  and  even  to  them  with  a  lingering  flavor 
of  reserve.  For  instance,  he  carried  on  his  remarkable  researches 
on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  by  day  and  by  night,  for  twenty  long 
years,  without  ever  saying  to  a  human  being  that  he  was  making 
a  book,  until  he  had  gone  over  the  whole  ground  of  the  Inquiry, 
and  his  first  volume  was  ready  for  the  press. 

The  following  narrative  has  grown  largely  out  of  more  than 
twenty  years  of  personal  intercourse,  begun  when  the  writer  was  a 
student,  and  afterwards,  for  a  while, a  teacher,  in  the  "  Media  Class- 
ical Institute."  A  friendship,  the  benefits  of  which  the  writer  has 
ever  since  appreciated  and  enjoyed,  then  sprang  up.  Long  and 
intimate  association  with  him  as  a  co-presbyter,  seeing  and  hear- 


IV 

ing  him  often  in  the  pulpit,  meeting  him  in  the  field  where  he 
toiled  with  his  hands,  in  the  study  and  in  the  family,  revealed 
much  of  his  inner  life  to  the  author,  more  perhaps  than  to  any 
outside  of  his  own  household.  To  these  sources  of  information 
others,  as  far  as  possible,  have  been  added.  Interviews  with  men 
and  women  of  his  own  age,  who  knew  him  well  and  were  more 
or  less  intimately  associated  with  him  through  all  his  public  life, 
have  been  diligently  sought  during  all  the  progress  of  the  work. 
"Whatever  thread,  in  the  midst  of  a  busy  pastorate,  has  been 
within  reach,  has  been  seized  and  woven  into  this  only  too  meagre 
history  of  a  noble  life.  The  gathering  of  the  incidents  here 
recorded  has  been  a  somewhat  melancholy  task,  but  the  labor  has 
not  been  without  its  rich  reward. 

It  has  not  been  the  aim  unduly  to  exaggerate  the  character 
and  labors  of  the  deceased,  but  to  magnify  the  grace  of  God.  No 
man,  since  the  days  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  more  sincerely  felt  and 
said,  "By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  Memorial,  which  was  ready  for 
publication  some  years  ago,  for  reasons  which  need  not  be  here 
mentioned,  has  been  delayed  in  its  appearance.  But  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  the  story  of  such  a  life  can  never  grow  old,  and 
can  never  cease  to  be  instructive  and  helpful  to  others.  The  way 
to  its  publication  having  been  now,  providentially,  made  clear, 
it  is  sent  forth  as  the  humble  tribute  of  the  heart  to  the  memory 
of  a  beloved  friend,  who,  "being  dead,  yet  speaketh."  In  accord- 
ance with  the  spirit  of  the  life  of  the  departed,  the  memorialist 
begs  that  he  may  be  permitted  to  lay -this  little  work,  only  where 
Dr.  Dale  would  have  it  laid,  on  the  altar  of  our  risen  and  glori- 
fied Redeemer,  and  with  the  earnest  prayer  that  the  Divine  Spirit 
who  made  Dr.  Dale  the  manly  man  that  he  was  will  use  this 
record  of  his  devoted  life  for  the  encouragement  and  inspiration 
of  others,  and  for  the  glory  of  His  own  great  name. 

^     ,       .^7      7  James  Egberts. 

Fresoyterian  (Jnurcfi, 

Darby,  Pa.  Aug.  1886. 


Cantents. 

•  Page. 

Introductory, iii 

Birth  and  Ancestors, 7 

His  Mother  and  Early  Home ,...., 8 

At  School  and  College, 15 

Study  of  Law, 16 

Ilis  Conversion  to  Christ,       .        .         • 19 

Preparation  for  the  Ministry, 20 

Interest  in  the  Foreign  Missionary  Field, 21 

In  the  Service  of  the  American  Board, 27 

The  Study  of  Medicine, 28 

Working,  Waiting  and  Watching, 30 

General  Agent  of  Penna.  Bible  Society, 37 

Missionary  Hopes  Ended, 40 

Domestic  Life, 41 

First  Pastoral  Settlement, 44 

Chester  and  its  Churches,       . 47 

Labors  at  Media — Second  Pastoral  Charge, 49 

Middletown  and  Media  Pastorate  Closed, 53 

Third  Pastoral  Charge — Wayne, 50 

Last  Pastorate  Ended, CO 

As  a  Preacher, 64 

As  a  Pastor, 70 

Activity  in  the  Temperance  Cause, 74 

Authorship, 83 

His  Closing  Years, 95 

His  Death, 100 

Elements  of  His  Success,       .        .        .        , 102 

Impressions  of  Others, 113 

From  Eev.  William  H,  Ilutton, 115 

From  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Jester, 120 

From  Rev.  Edward  H.  Robbins, 123 

From  Presbytery  of  Chester, 127 

From  "Presbyterian"— Rev.  M.  B.  Gricr,  D.D.,           ....  128 
From  "New  York  Evangelist"— Rev.  W.  P.  Breed,  D.D.,  .        .        .130 

Public  Memorials, 133 

In  Middletown  Grave-yard, 133 

In  Media  Presbyterian  Church, 135 


Birth  an d  AncBBtprB. 

James  Wilkinson  Dale  was  born  October  16, 1812,  at  Cant- 
well's  Bridge,  (now  Odessa)  Delaware.  He  was  the  third  son  and 
the  fourth  child  of  Richard  Colgate  Dale,  M.  D.  and  Margaret 
(Fitzgerald)  Dale. 

His  ancestors,  on  his  father's  side,  came  from  England,  and 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  State  of  Maryland.  They 
were  Episcopalians.  Dr.  Richard  C.  Dale  was  a  popular  and  suc- 
cessful physician.  During  the  war  of  1812,  he  became  a  surgeon 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  served  under  General 
Wilkinson,  after  whom  his  son  James  was  named.  He  filled  the 
office  of  High  Sheriff  of  New  Castle  County,  Del.,  from  1803  to 
1806.  He  died  in  Wilmington,  Del.,  May  10, 1818,  leaving  to 
the  care  of  his  widow  a  family  of  seven  children  and  the  settle- 
ment of  his  own  estate,  which  was  considerable,  together  with 
the  affairs  of  his  public  office,  which  were  still  unsettled  at  the 
time  of  his  death. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Dale  removed,  with 
her  family  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters,  to  the  house  of  her 
father,  Thomas  Fitzgerald,  in  Philadelphia.  The  ancestors  of 
Thomas  Fitzgerald  were  Roman  Catholics,  but  the  faith  of  his 
fathers  did  not  satisfy  his  mind  and  heart.  From  what  we 
learn  of  him,  he  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  intellect,  and 
of  an  inquiring  mind.  From  Romanism,  with  which  he  never 
sympathized,  he  turned  away  dissatisfied  and  restless,  that  he 


8 

might  search  for  light  and  truth  elsewhere.  He  identified  him- 
self with  the  Universalist  body,  and  became  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  first  church  of  that  denomination  which  was  organized  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia.  Universalism  did  not,  however,  afford 
rest  to  his  inquiring  mind,  nor  meet  the  wants  of  his  spiritual 
nature.  "While  the  teachings  of  Romanism  were  too  narrow  for 
him,  the  teachings  of  Universalism  were  too  broad.  He  became  dis- 
satisfied with  certain  sentiments  which  grew  up  among  those  with 
whom  he  was  associated  in  the  Universalist  Church.  For  that  rea- 
son, he  left  the  denomination,  as  well  as  the  congregation  to  whose 
organization  and  growth  he  had  been  a  very  large  contributor  in 
influence,  in  personal  effort,  and  in  money. 

Through  the  influence  of  their  family  physician,  whose  name 
I  do  not  know,  the  Dale  family  were  induced  to  attend  what  was 
then  known  as  the  Fifth,  and  now  as  the  Arch  Street  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  of  Philadelphia,  which,  at  that  time,  was  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  gifted  and  godly  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.  D. 
Whoever  this  physician  was,  he  did  better  for  Presbyterianism 
and  for  Christianity  than  he  knew  when  he  introduced  to  the 
Arch  St.  Church  the  Dales,  a  family  whose  intelligence,  spiritual 
power.  Christian  activity  and  liberality  have  been  conspicuous  in 
the  denomination  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

His  Mather  and  Early  Hame. 

Most  men  are  made  what  they  are  by  their  mothers  and  the 
surroundings  of  their  early  home  life.  The  training  of  the  family 
to  which  the  subject  of  this  Memorial  belonged  was  largely  the 


9 

work  of  their  mother.  It  may,  therefore,  be  well  to  note  what  has 
come  to  hand  concerning  the  home  of  his  youth  and  his  honored 
mother,  who  lived  long  and  who  will  continue  to  live  in  the 
Church  of  Christ,  for  generations  to  come,  through  her  children 
and  her  children's  children.  In  a  letter,  dated  Princeton  Semi- 
nary, September,  1834,  to  his  brother  Gerald,  who  was  in  Phil- 
lips Academy,  Andover,  Mass.,  preparing  to  enter  Yale  College, 
James  thus  writes  of  his  mother : 

"How  seldom,  dear  Gerald,  have  we  been  called  to  look  into 
the  open  grave  receiving  those  we  loved.  A  father  and  a  grand- 
father have  indeed  been  taken  from  us.  But  both  before  we  could 
appreciate  their  loss.  And  we  have  been  compelled  to  learn  but 
little,  from  experience,  the  value  of  such  tender  relatives  by  miss- 
ing their  watchful  care.  A  mother  was  left  us,  to  lead,  with 
watchful  care,  by  night  and  by  day,  her  sons  and  daughters  most 
successfully,  through  His  (God's)  blessing,  amidst  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  world.  I  feel  that  I  may  with  all  propriety  adopt 
this  language  without  ascribing  much  to  ourselves.  When  I 
remember  to  how  great  a  degree  we  have  all  been  preserved  from 
open  and  gross  violations  of  God's  law ;  from  taking  His  holy 
name  in  anger  on  our  lips ;  from  openly  breaking  His  Sabbath 
days,  have  we  not  reason  to  praise  the  restraining  grace  which 
was  thrown  about  us  in  the  family  circle,  in  the  school,  the  play- 
ground and  the  street?  *  *  *  How  little  trouble,  care  or 
anxiety  have  we  experienced  in  the  preparation  of  food  for  our 
table  or  raiment  to  clothe  us  ?  Whatever  there  has  been  of  these 
things,  Maa  has  borne  them  all.  But  how  greatly  have  they  been 
lightened,  even  to  her,  by  the  bountiful  distribution  made  by  the 
free  goodness  of  God  of  the  necessary  and  comfortable,  not  to 
say  superabundant,  things  of  this  life." 


10 

lu  another  letter,  written  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Mary  D.  Lelar, 
who  was  nearing  the  age  of  three  score  and  ten  years,  when  he 
was  himself  past  sixty-four  years  of  age,  and  when  disease  had 
compelled  him  to  lay  aside  pen  and  pulpit  that  he  might  seek 
rest  and  recuperation  for  his  over-taxed  brain.  Dr.  Dale  sets  forth 
his  affection  for  his  family,  and  calls  up  some  pleasant  memories 
of  the  religious  character  of  the  home  of  his  youth.  The  letter  is 
dated  Clifton  Springs,  N".  Y.,  January  26, 1877.  After  writing  of 
his  health,  and  of  Christian  work  in  which  he  had  been  engaged 
during  the  Week  of  Prayer,  he  says : 

"  May  God  make  my  own  slight  infirmity,  the  taking  to  him- 
self of  my  three  little  ones  and  their  dear  Mother  (more  and 
more  missed  and  more  valued),  my  own  peerless  Mother,  and  my 
elder  Brothers,  as  true  men  and  as  true  brothers,  and  as  true  sons, 
as  ever  lived,  a  rich  and  needed  blessing  to  my  soul. 

"And  you,  my  sister,  loved  with  all  my  heart,  will  have 
passed  your '  three  score  and  tenth  birth-day '  before  you  shall  have 
received  this  letter!  Can  it  be  possible?  It  seems  to  be  quite 
impossible.  But  memory  can  go  back  when  my  dear  sister 
was  young  and  loved  her  foolish  brothers,  because  she  loved  her 
Saviour.     *     *     -5^ 

"And  I  had  occasion  to  remember  sweetly,  a  few  days  since, 
the  time  in  Lombard  Street,  long,  long  ago,  when  our  'sister,' 
honored  as  well  as  loved,  used,  when  Maa  (ever  blessed  be  her 
name!)  was  not  there,  to  take  the  family  Bible,  and  lay  it  on  the 
Family  Altar,  and  call  her  brothers  and  sisters  around  her  and 
pray  with  them  and  for  them. 

"Ah!  Dear  Sister,  three  score  and  ten  are  you?  Well,  three 
score  and  ten  multiplied  by  the  stars  of  heaven  will  not  tell  the 
blessing  you  have  been  to  your  Brothers !    Live  on  to  four  score. 


11 

and  you  will  live  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  honor  and  love  of 
your  Brothers,  while  they  live.  Three  score  and  ten !  Changes 
have  been,  for  this  is  a  changeful  world,  but  one  thing  has  never 
changed  toward  my  beloved  Sister;  when  'clouds  and  darkness 
have  been  about  His  throne '  the  face  of  Him  who  sat  upon  that 
throne  has  been  ever  toward  her,  shining  brighter  than  seven 
suns,  though,  for  the  time  she  may  not  have  been  able  to  see  it. 
Three  score  and  ten  !  Ah,  but  eternity  is  longer,  and  brings  no 
old  age,  nor  cloud  to  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.  There,  there, 
may  we  all  be  there,  to  the  praise  of  Grace,  Grace." 

Not  only  in  his  letters  did  Dr.  Dale  show  his  great  regard 
for  his  mother;  but  in -her  old  age,  when  the  burden  of  years 
pressed  heavily  upon  her,  he  always  treated  her  with  marked 
tenderness  and  reverence.  The  picture  of  the  pastor  of  the  Media 
Presbyterian  Church  coming  up  the  aisle,  on  Sabbath  morning, 
with  his  venerable  mother  leaning  on  his  arm,  and  the  gentleness 
with  which  he  seated  her  in  the  pew,  before  he  ascended  the  pul- 
pit, is  one  that  can  never  be  eitaced  from  the  memory  of  those 
who  have  seen  it.  He  was  just  as  mindful  and  careful  of  her  in 
private  as  in  public.  In  his  own  home,  where  I  have  sometimes 
met  her,  when  she  would  rise  to  go  across  the  floor,  he  would  has- 
ten to  help  her,  if  it  was  but  a  few  steps  that  she  intended  to  take. 
This  much  loved  mother  lived  to  be  nearly  eighty-two  years  of 
age,  and  to  see  all  her  children  happily  and  prosperously  settled 
in  life.  She  died  in  Philadelphia,  August  28,  1865.  At  her 
funeral,  eloquent  tributes  were  paid  to  her  memory  by  Ministers 
familiar  with  her  womanly  life.  That  of  her  pastor,  the  Rev.  F. 
R.  Harbaugh,  has  been  preserved  and  is  here  reproduced: 


12 

"  Most  appropriate  are  these  rites  of  Christian  burial,  for  a 
mother  in  Israel  sleeps  in  Jesus.  And  meet  it  is  at  this  hour  to 
spend  a  few  moments  in  reviewing  a  life  so  full  of  interest,  and 
which  has  come  to  so  peaceful  an  end. 

"And  yet,  beloved  friends,  it  is  not  without  considerable 
embarrassment  that  I  attempt  the  portraiture  of  your  sainted 
mother's  life,  not  so  much  because  of  my  comparatively  brief 
association  with  her,  as  on  account  of  the  intrinsic  delicacy  of  the 
subject. 

"1.  Her  birth  dates  nearly  contemporaneously  with  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  peace  which  followed  the  struggle  of  the  Revo- 
lution. She  was,  therefore,  one  of  the  venerated  few  who  remain 
as  the  representatives  of  the  nation's  infancy.  A  native  of  Phila- 
delphia, her  home  was  early  in  life  transferred  to  the  State  of 
Delaware.  There  she  married  and  was  left  a  widow,  with  a 
family  consisting  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 

"  Her  respected  and  eminent  husband — both  as  a  physician 
and  civil  officer — high  sheriff  of  the  county  of  !N"ew  Castle — dy- 
ing whilst  the  business  of  his  office  was  unsettled,  it  devolved 
upon  her  to  perform  this  duty,  and  also  to  settle  the  affairs  of  his 
estate — a  work  of  no  insignificant  proportions,  and  one  which 
called  for  peculiar  abilities  of  no  common  order.  Her  adminis- 
tration of  her  husband's  estate  was  such  as  to  elicit  the  frequent 
and  emphatic  commendations  of  prominent  members  of  the  bar, 
both  for  the  skill  and  correctness  displayed,  and  also  for  the 
unusual  dispatch  with  which  it  was  accomplished.  Her  readi- 
ness and  sagacity,  her  knowledge  of  and  familiarity  with  the 
minutiae  of  intricate  business,  her  appreciation  of  the  responsi- 
bility as  well  as  the  delicacy  of  her  position,  together  with  the 
marked  success  of  her  personal  management ;  in  these,  and  in 
many  other  particulars  which  might  be  enumerated,  were  evi- 
denced qualities  which,  confessedly  by  all,  distinguished  this 


13 

beloved  mother — such  as  great  vigor  of  mind,  tenacity  of  purpose, 
strength  of  will,  soundness  of  judgment,  and  undeviating  self- 
possession  under  the  most  trying  circumstances  that  can  befall  a 
widowed  mother. 

"2.  Having  thus  honorably  and  successfully  adjusted  the 
affairs  of  her  lamented  husband's  estate,  she  gave  herself  exclu- 
sively to  the  guardianship  of  her  large  and  interesting  family. 
And  here  as  a  mother,  as  before,  more  particularly  as  a  wife,  fidel- 
ity and  success  were  alike  hers.  She  immediately  assumed  the 
position  to  which  she  was  called  by  the  removal  of  the  father,  and 
rightly  maintained  it  to  her  dying  hour,  never  yielding  for  a  mo- 
ment to  the  erroneous  and  hurtful  idea  that  parental  responsibility 
and  guardianship  alike  cease  when  children  attain  their  majority. 
Difiicult,  and  even  onerous  as  were  the  duties  which  now  devolved 
upon  her,  she  did  not  seek  to  evade  them,  nor  hesitate  to  under- 
take their  performance.  By  her  was  family  religion  perpetuated  ; 
the  morning  and  evening  incense  was  continued  to  be  offered. 
When  her  sons  and  daughters  had  grown  up  around  her,  they 
continued  to  be  summoned  to  the  family  altar.  As  the  head  of 
the  family  she  humbly  and  faithfully  sought  to  honor  God.  And 
I  may  ask,  without  a  suspicion  of  adulation,  was  ever  a  godly 
mother  more  honored  in  her  children?  Reared  in  the  midst  of 
the  sinful  enticements  of  a  great  city,  not  a  child,  by  word  or  act, 
has  dishonored  their  pious  tutelage. 

"iN'or  at  home  alone  was  her  fidelity  to  be  seen.  Recognizing 
the  divinely  appointed  connection  which  exists  between  the  fami- 
lies of  believers  and  the  house  of  God,  this  sainted  mother,  with  a 
regularity  and  consistency  which  became  proverbial,  each  Lord's 
day  led  her  little  tribe  to  the  tabernacle  of  Israel's  God.  When 
the  house  of  the  Lord  was  open,  her  house  was  closed,  nor  distance, 
nor  frequency  of  services  prevented  her  presenting  herself  and  her 
children  before  God.     The  customary  devotional  services  on  the 


14 

evenings  of  the  secular  days  of  the  week  received  the  same  atten- 
tion, and  the  result  of  all  this  faithfulness  in  puhlic  and  private 
training  of  her  children  is  that  she  beheld  all  her  children  united 
with  her  in  a  common  trust  in  Christ,  before  she  was  called  to 
her  reward  in  the  church  triumphant. 

"  3.  At  such  an  hour  as  this  I  desire  to  dwell  as  little  as 
possible  upon  things  merely  secular,  and  yet  I  feel  that  I  will  not 
have  performed  my  part  as  well  as  I  might  have  done,  should  I 
make  no  mention  of  the  pure,  elevated,  genuine  patriotism  of 
this  beloved  mother.  Herself  the  venerated  representative  of  the 
peace  which  followed  the  patriotic  struggle  for  independence,  the 
interest  which  she  ever  evinced  in  all  that  pertained  to  the  recent 
National  conflict  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  per- 
mitted to  witness  it. 

"  Her  understanding  of  the  causes  of  the  revolt,  her  apprecia- 
tion of  the  immense  interests  at  stake,  her  abiding  faith  in  the 
righteousness  and  justice  and  holiness  of  God,  her  intense  love 
of  country,  and  her  desires  for  the  preservation  of  the  national 
honor  as  involved  in  the  preservation  of  the  integrity  of  the 
National  Union,  her  clear  and  deep  and  abiding  convictions  of 
the  rightfulness  of  the  Government  in  resorting  to  the  force  of 
arms  for  the  suppression  of  rebellion,  her  delight  in  witnessing 
the  cessation  of  slavery,  her  sense  of  the  direct  interposition  of 
God  in  behalf  of  freedom  and  right — these  and  kindred  feel- 
ings and  sentiments  were  so  strong  and  so  intense  that,  with 
her  spirit  infused  into  her  children's  children,  it  was  no  wonder 
that  they  fell  only  where  the  bravest  fall.  Such  mothers  !  what 
a  blessing  they  are  to  the  land. 

"4.  In  the  religious  experience  of  this  sainted  mother  we  have 
a  most  ample  theme  of  itself.  Only  a  few  points  can  be  dwelt  upon 
now.  Her  belief  was  that  of  an  intelligent  Christian.  All  the 
leading  doctrines  of  the  Scriptures  she  received  with  all  her  heart, 


15 

and  especially  the  great  central  doctrine  of  revelation,  the  atone- 
ment of  Christ.  Her  views  of  and  belief  in  the  vicarious  suffer- 
ings and  death  of  Jesus  as  her  personal  substitute  and  Redeemer 
were  unusually  clear  and  correct,  and  most  firmly  established. 
She  looked  upon  Christ's  satisfaction  for  sin  as  a  thing  accom- 
plished. Her  personal  relations  to  that  work,  and  its  present 
benefits,  viz.:  justification,  adoption  and  sanctification,  these  she 
regarded  herself  as  actually  possessed  of.  Her  whole  trust  was 
in  Christ.  Everything  was  secondary  to  the  blood  of  Jesus.  And 
hence  from  her  intelligent  and  firm  belief  in  her  personal  justifi- 
cation before  God,  and  acceptance  with  Him  through  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ  imparted  unto  her,  her  piety  was  ever  of  that 
attractive  cast  which  cheerfulness  ever  imparts.  Her  daily  life 
evinced  the  composure  and  often  the  elevated  frame  of  feeling  of 
one  who  was  assured  of  her  peace  with  God.  A  beautiful  coinci- 
dence is  found  in  her  life.  She  was  born  immediately  after  the  peace 
which  followed  the  struggle  for  independence,  and  was  translated 
immediately  after  the  return  o"f  peace  to  our  troubled  land.  With 
the  most  sincere  and  grateful  acknowledgments  of  the  goodness 
of  God  to  her,  to  her  family,  to  the  land,  and  to  the  church,  she 
passed  away  to  be  forever  with  the  Lord. 

"  The  Lord  be  praised  for  such  mothers,  and  may  their  num- 
ber be  greatly  multiplied  to  the  land  and  to  the  church." 

At  SchDDl  and  CallegB. 

In  his  early  youth,  James  W.  Dale  manifested  a  great  fond- 
ness for  study  and  a  tendency  to  master  thoroughly  whatever 
he  undertook.  He  went  through  the  first  Latin  book  that  was 
put  into  his  hands  in  two  weeks.  I  happened  to  drop  into  his 
study,  at  Media,  one  afternoon,  when  he  was  rearranging  the 


16 

books  in  his  library.  That  same  Latin  grammar,  which,  he 
said  he  had  not  seen  for  many  years,  had  turned  up  and  was  lying 
on  his  table.  Lifting  it  from  the  table,  he  handed  it  to  me  and 
said :  "  That  little  book  was  my  first  introduction  to  the  study  of 
Latin.  I  well  remember  the  evening  that  I  first  opened  it.  Our 
teacher  told  us  to  commit  the  large  print  to  memory  and  to  read 
carefully  the  small  print  of  the  lesson ;  but  I  committed  it  all 
large  print  and  small,  and  I  still  remember  it."  In  this  way,  we 
see  him  laying  deep  and  broad  the  foundations  of  the  clear  and 
strong  thinker  that  he  afterwards  became. 

He  entered  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  then  among  the 
foremost  institutions  of  learning  in  the  country,  where  he  pur- 
sued his  studies  with  great  diligence,  and  graduated  in  1831, 
before  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age,  with  the  honor  of  being  the 
Valedictorian  of  his  class.  ^Nothing  special  is  known  of  his 
College  life,  except  the  fact  that  he  was  a  conscientious,  close  and 
careful  student.     "While  in  College  his  mind  was  thoroughly  set 

o"  ^^®  Study  of  Law. 

Accordingly  after  completing  his  Collegiate  course,  he  entered  the 
law  office  of  Hon.  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll,  who  was  then  a  leading 
member  of  the  Philadelphia  Bar  and  a  member  of  Congress,  and 
who  was  afterwards  the  Ambassador  of  the  United  States  to  the 
government  of  Great  Britain.  Among  the  fellow  students  of 
Dr.  Dale  in  the  law  office  of  Mr.  Ingersoll  were  the  Hon.  Judge 
Thompson,  the  Hon.  Charles  Glilpin,  who  became  Mayor  of  Phila- 
delphia, Charles  E.  Lex,  Esq.,  who  was  City  Solicitor  and  President 
of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  Girard  College,  and  the  Hon.  George 


17 

Sharswood,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania. 
With  these  and  others  who  became  prominent,  Dr.  Dale  was  asso- 
ciated for  about  a  year  in  the  study  of  law. 

He  had  eminent  fitness  for  the  legal  profession.  Had  he 
pursued  this  vocation  on  which  he  entered,  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  his  position  among  lawyers  would  have  been 
one  of  great  prominence.  In  mental  ability  and  in  moral  char- 
acter he  would  have  been  an  ornament  to  the  bar  of  the  State 
and  of  the  country.  The  future  that  opened  up  before  the  mind 
of  young  Dale  when  he  began  the  study  of  law  was  bright  with 
l^roniise  and  filled  with  the  hope  of  the  highest  degree  of  success. 
He  seems  to  have  had  every  element  of  mind  and  of  character  essen- 
tial to  lift  him  up  very  soon  to  the  highest  place  in  the  legal  pro- 
fession. His  gifts  of  oratory  were  superior.  He  had  a  splendid 
mind,  which  was  well  adapted  by  nature  to  the  study  of  juris- 
prudence ;  and  by  severe  study,  he  had  already  acquired  that  men- 
tal development  which  one  gets  only  by  long,  close  and  continued 
application.  He  was  fortunate  in  having  learned  at  a  very  early 
age,  how  to  study.  Already  he  was  regarded  as  a  man  of  mind 
and  of  high  scholarship.  In  addition  to  his  intellectual  ability, 
he  had  social  standing.  His  own  family  and  many  of  his  friends 
were  people  of  culture  and  of  influence  in  society.  He  was  a 
man  of  unblemished  moral  character.  Even  thoug-li  he  made  no 
profession  of  Christianity,  he  had  a  profound  respect  for  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  Christ  and  for  all  who  lived  it  in  sincerity  and 
truth.  In  his  youth,  he  was  pure  in  speech,  and  in  manhood, 
his  whole  nature  abhorred  any  thing  that  bordered  on  profanity 


18 

or  even  vulgarity.     In  the  letter  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Lelar,  men- 
tioned on  page  10,  lie  writ'es : 

"A  few  days  since,  a  little  boy,  about  eight  years  of  age,  was 
sitting  by  his  mother  while  she  gave  him  counsel  about  swearing 
and  things  allied  to  it,  when  I  was  led  to  say:  My  sister  told  me 
when  I  was  about  his  age  never  to  say, '  By  Gracious,'  '  By  Jim- 
miny,'  and  such  like.  And  I  had  never  forgotten  her  loving 
reproof,  nor  had  ever  sworn  in  my  life,  nor  had  ever  heard  one  of 
ray  brothers  swear.  A  dear  sister  loving  the  Saviour  is  worth 
more  than  millions  of  gold  to  brothers  who  have  learned  to  love 
her,  though  not  yet  learned  to  love  their  Saviour." 

So  far  as  character  was  concerned,  from  a  moral  point  of 
view.  Dr.  Dale,  even  before  he  became  a  Christian,  could  say  with 
Paul :  "  Touching  the  righteousness  which  is  of  the  law,  blame- 
less." By  and  through  his  influential  friends,  legal  business 
would  have  been  put  into  his  hands  as  soon  as  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  This  would  have  started  him  in  his  professional 
career.  So  conspicuous  would  have  been  his  fitness  for  the  posi- 
tion of  their  counsellor  at  law,  and  such  would  have  been  his  con- 
scientious faithfulness  in  the  discharge  of  the  trusts  committed 
to  him  that  he  would,  no  doubt,  have  risen  rapidly  in  profes- 
sional success  until  he  reached  the  summit.  All  this  promise  of 
worldly  honor  and  success  was  clearly  enough  before  the  mind 
of  young  Dale;  but  he  learned  to  say:  "0  Lord,  I  know  that 
the  way  of  man  is  not  in  himself;  it  is  not  in  man  that  walketh 
to  direct  his  steps."  He  found  out  that  God  had  other  work  for 
him  to  do^  and,  in  His  own  time  and  way,  God  made  plain  the 
new  path  of  duty  before  the  mind  of  the  ambitious  student  of  law. 


19 


His  CanvBrsian  to  Christ, 

About  a  year  after  he  began  the  study  of  law,  there  was  a 
special  religious  interest  in  the  Arch  Street  Presbyterian  Church. 
Daily  services  were  being  held,  and  many  were  dedicating  them- 
selves to  the  service  of  Christ.  Dr.  Dale's  eldest  sister,  Mary, 
was  much  concerned  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  her  young  and 
promising  brother,  James.  She  invited  him  to  accompany  her 
to  the  meetings,  but  he  declined  her  invitation,  on  the  ground 
that  he  was  too  busy  just  then,  and  very  anxious  to  finish,  by  a 
certain  time,  a  law  book  which  he  was  reading.  With  all  a 
pious  sister's  loving  tenderness,  she  persisted  in  urging  upon  him 
the  importance  of  seeking  "  First  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness,"  of  securing  the  salvation  of  his  own  soul,  and  the 
imperative  duty  that  rested  upon  him  to  do  so  now.  Such  was 
the  earnest,  persevering  pleading  of  this  devoted  sister,  that  he 
yielded  so  far  as  to  promise  her,  that,  if  the  meetings  were  still 
in  progress,  after  he  had  finished  the  book  which  he  was  reading, 
he  would  attend  the  special  services  of  the  church  until  they 
closed.  He  finished  his  book ;  he  kept  the  promise  made  to  his 
sister ;  and  this  was  the  last  law  book  that  he  ever  opened  with 
a  view  to  being  a  lawyer.  Under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
he  consecrated  himself  to  Christ.  Having  done  this,  he  at  once 
identified  himself  with  the  people  of  God  by  publicly  taking 
upon  himself  God's  covenant,  which  he  did  when  he  presented 
himself  to  the  Session  of  the  Arch  Street  Presbyterian  Church 
and  was  received  as  one  of  its  members. 


20 

In  after  years,  when  referring  to  this  change  which  came 
so  unexpectedly  over  the  future  of  his  life,  he  used  to  say  with 
the  Apostle  Paul,  "  But  what  things  were  gain  to  me,  those  I 
counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea,  doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things 
but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my 
Lord :  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  do 
count  them  but  dung,  that  I  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found  in 
him,  not  having  mine  own  righteousness,  which  is  of  the  law, 
but  that  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness 
which  is  of  God  by  faith."  He  cheerfully  gave  up  all  his  plans 
of  worldly  honor  and  success.  He  turned  his  back  forever  upon 
the  pictured  possibilities  which  hope  had  so  brilliantly  painted 
on  the  future  that  he  had  marked  out  for  himself.  He  brought 
all  his  powers  of  physical  endurance,  his  gifts  of  oratory,  his 
cultured  intellect,  and  all  that  he  was  and  was  to  be,  and  laid  all 
— head  and  heart,  body  and  brain — as  an  offering  on  the  altar  of 
his  Redeemer,  to  be  used  as  He  might  direct,  asking  only,  "  Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?" 

FrBparatinn  far  the  Ministry. 

Very  early  in  life  Dr.  Dale  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
if  he  ever  became  a  Christian  it  would  be  his  duty  to  be  a  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel.  His  conversion  at  once  settled  the  question 
of  his  future  vocation.  Accordingly,  on  October  16, 1832,  the 
day  that  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  he  entered  the  Theological 
Seminary  of  Andover,  Mass.  Language  was  one  of  his  favorite 
studies,  and  he  selected  this  Seminary  because,  in  his  judgment. 


21 

it  aiForded  the  best  facilities  for  the  study  of  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  languages,  under  the  eminent  professors,  Rev.  Dr.  Moses 
Stuart  and  Eev.  Dr.  Edward  Robinson.  For  the  second  year 
of  his  theological  course,  he  was  attracted  to  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  by  the  world  wide  fame  of  the  cele- 
brated Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  and  the  rising  reputation 
and  popularity  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Hodge.  After  spending 
one  year  at  Princeton,  he  returned  to  Andover  and  completed  the 
course  of  that  Institution.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the 
Andover  Congregational  Association  of  Massachusetts,  April 
16,  1835  ;  and  he  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist,  by  the  same 
Association,  at  Dracut,  Mass.,  August  29, 1837. 

Interest  in  the  Foreign  Missionary  Field. 

Not  only  did  Dr.  Dale  give  himself  to  the  ministry,  but  also 
to  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions.  He  did  not  make  choice  of 
the  ministry  as  his  life  vocation  because  of  its  ease  or  its  honor. 
He  gave  himself  to  the  ministry  because  he  had  given  himself 
wholly  to  Christ,  Who  now  laid  upon  him  the  "  Woe  is  me  if  I 
preach  not  the  Gospel."  Having  given  himself  to  Christ,  his 
only  concern  was  to  answer  for  himself  the  inquiry :  "  Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?"  Indeed,  this  was  ever  the  rul- 
ing question  of  his  whole  life.  It  was  soon  after  he  entered  the 
Theological  Seminary  that  his  duty  to  a  perishing  world  began 
to  press  itself  upon  him.  His  heart  went  out  toward  the  perish- 
ing millions  who  were  living  and  dying  in  ignorance  of  "  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God."    The  operations  of  his  mind 


22 

in  regard  to  this  subject,  the  decision  to  which  he  came,  the 
grounds  of  that  decision  and  the  motives  by  which  he  was  actu- 
ated are  all  fully  and  clearly  set  forth  in  a  letter  to  his  much  loved 
mother.  As  we  have  his  views  and  mental  operations,  in  his 
own  words,  it  is  best  that  we  hear  him  speak  on  this  important 
matter  for  himself.  In  reading  this  letter,  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  his  mother  did  not  look  with  favor  on  his  determi- 
nation to  become  a  foreign  missionary ;  also  that  the  cause  of 
Foreign  Missions  has  made  such  rapid  strides  and  has  taken  such 
hold  upon  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  Christian  Church,  during 
the  last  fifty  years,  that  some  of  the  arguments  of  this  letter  may 
not  now  be  considered  necessary,  while  others  are  just  as  applicable 
to-day  as  when  Dr.  Dale  used  them,  fifty  years  ago.     The  letter 

is  as  follows : 

"  Theological  Seminary,  Nov.  22, 1833. 

"  Through  God's  mercy  in  sparing  yet  a  little  longer  a  bar- 
ren tree  in  His  vineyard,  I  am  permitted  to  address  yet  another 
letter  to  my  beloved  Mother.  Were  His  mercies  so  few  as  to 
admit  of  being  numbered,  I  would  say  that  another  was  added 
to  the  list  in  being  permitted  to  hear  from  yourself.  How  much 
I  desired  that  the  day  should  come  'round  during  my  'five  weeks' 
in  which  you  should  revisit  home,  I  need  not  now  say.  Three  or 
four  days  was  a  little  time  to  be  disappointed  in,  but  sufficient  to 
place  between  us,  again,  nearly  three  or  four  hundred  miles.  But 
the  little  disappointment  will  doubtless  work  for  our  good, 
especially  if  the  time  speedily  comes  in  which  the  revolving 
year  will  bring  with  it  no  day  of  hoped  return.  Yet,  dear 
Maa,  if  the  day  shall  come  in  which  we  shall  have  parted 
without  the  hope  of  return  to  one  another,  it  will  not  be  with- 
out the  hope  of  meeting^  and  if  we  but  love  Christ  it  will  be  a 


23 

hope  that  will  not  make  us  '  ashamed ',  a  hope  that  shall  not 
perish  even  in  death,  but  shall  in  that  very  hour  in  which  God 
declares  the  'hope  of  the  hypocrite  shall  perish,'  be  changed  for 
a  reality,  an  eternal  reality,  which  shall  place  us  forever  before 
the  throne  of  our  Lord,  and  make  us  '  pillars  in  His  temple'  to 
'  go  out  no  more  forever '.  Yes,  there  is  a  rest,  '  a  rest  which 
remaineth  to  the  people  of  God '.  There  is  a  time  coming  when 
those  who  now  go  to  the  Saviour  burdened  with  sin,  and  take 
His  cross  shall  be  made  'kings  and  priests  unto  God';  when 
they  shall  sit  down  at  the  feast  of  the  Lamb,  and  shall  'drink 
wine  new  with  Him  in  His  Father's  kingdom',  and  from  those 
who  meet  in  these  heavenly  scenes,  there  shall  be  no  more  part- 
ing. Though  death  were  to  part  us,  Maa,  while  we  are  pray- 
ing to  be  led  to  the  '  Rock  that  is  higher  than  I',  and  think- 
ing that  our  feet  are  placed  upon  it,  could  we  not  wait  and  look 
for  that  hour  of  great  assembling  ?  And  how  much  more  should 
we  be  willing  to  remain  apart,  if  it  is  God's  will,  when  we  can 
spend  a  part  of  the  interval  in  laboring  to  prepare  souls  to  inhabit 
those  mansions  of  everlasting  joy  which  the  Saviour  has  gone  to 
prepare. 

"Although,  dear  Maa,  from  your  last  letter,  you  do  not  seem 
now  to  suppose  that  it  is  God's  will  that  we  should  be  separated 
by  many  miles  of  land  and  water,  yet,  I  feel  assured  that  when 
your  mind  has  become  accustomed  to  the  thought^  and  you  have  for 
awhile  stood  upon  the  Bible  that  so  raise th  us  above  the  world, 
and  looked  to  pierce  the  religious  gloom  that  overhangs  the  earth  ; 
and  have  thought  how  poorly  the  command  of  the  Saviour,  who 
hath  purchased  salvation  for  us,  has  been  complied  with,  that 
His  disciples  should  '  go  into  all  the  earth,  and  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  every  creature',  how  few  have  heard  the  '  only  name  given 
among  men  whereby  they  can  be  saved';  when  these  things  are 
remembered,  Maa  will  not  enquire  how  near  to  her  and  dearest 


24 

relatives  I  may  hold  the  Lamp  of  the  Gospel,  but  rather  urge  me 
to  haste  and  bear  its  beams  to  that  people  upon  whom  the  day  of 
the  Lord  has  not  yet  shone ;  who  yet  know  not  the  love  where- 
with God  loved  the  world  when  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son 
to  die  for  them, 'that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life'. 

"  Yet,  Maa,  perhaps  you  may  suppose  that  I  have  not  weighed 
well  the  wants  of  my  native  land.  I  cannot  but  confess  that 
when  the  Gospel  light  of  the  United  States  has  been  placed  in 
one  scale  of  the  balances,  and  the  thick  gloom  of  idolatry,  that 
yet  covers  so  much  of  the  world,  has  settled  down  in  the  other, 
the  command  of  God,  'Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me', 
and  of  the  Saviour,  to  '  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature',  made 
the  weight  in  the  latter  scale  so  preponderent  that  there  did  not 
appear  much  necessity  for  the  long  indulgence  of  a  doubtful  state 
of  mind,  yet  I  postponed  an  ultimate  decision  during  a  year, 
knowing  that,  in  doing  so,  I  should  please  my  dear  mother,  and 
believing  that  I  should  not  displease  my  Lord  and  Master.  Now, 
however,  longer  delay  appears  unnecessary  and  attended  with  in- 
jurious consequences;  the  mind  would  be  kept  halting  between 
two  opinions,  studies  would  be  pursued  with  indefiniteness,  and, 
at  last,  perhaps,  duty  be  heard  calling  to  the  heathen. 

"  But,  Maa,  that  you  may  see  that  I  am  not  without  some  realiz- 
ing sense  of  the  condition  of  our  own  land,  let  me  be  a  little  more 
particular.  The  United  States  is  a  Republic,  tolerating  freedom 
of  speech  and  conscience ;  its  people,  as  a  whole,  perhaps,  the 
most  enlightened  in  the  world ;  and  among  them,  perhaps,  vice 
less  triumphant  and  universal  than  among  any  others,  all  of  which 
circumstances  are  favorable  to  the  rapid  spread  of  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel.  Besides  this,  our  growing  country  is  creating  a  powerful 
influence  upon  other  lands,  some  of  which  long  for  institutions 
similar  to  our  own ;  and  this  influence  should  be  sanctified,  as  far 


25 

as  may  be,  by  the  spread  of  pure  religion  among  ourselves  ;  our 
western  country,  where  there  is  so  soon  to  bo  so  large  a  popula- 
tion, is,  compared  with  some  other  portions  of  our  country,  desti- 
tute of  ministers  of  the  Gospel ;  there  are,  perhaps,  in  the  differ- 
ent States  of  our  Union  a  thousand  churches  already  organized 
in  want  of  pastors ;  and,  finally,  this  country  must  be  one  of 
the  greatest  fountains  whence  must  flow  '  streams  to  make  glad 
the  city  of  our  God  ';  here  must  be  formed  leaven  to  leaven  the 
whole  world.  Great,  indeed  then,  is  the  necessity  laid  upon  all 
Christians  to  seek  to  spread  pure  and  undefiled  religion  through- 
out our  borders.  But,  notwithstanding  those  things,  all  of  which 
I  esteem  as  of  greatest  moment,  I  feel  not  now  (and  I  leave  to- 
morrow with  God)  a  wavering  as  to  the  path  of  duty  in  which  I 
should  walk. 

"  The  reasons  that  have  made  plain  my  decision,  I  will  now 
briefly  relate.  "We  believe,  Maa,  that  the  day  will  yet  come  when 
in  Asia,  in  Africa,  and  the  islands  of  the  Ocean,  the  once  poor, 
heathen  native  shall  be  heard,  saying,  '  How  beautiful  upon  the 
mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tidings.'  But 
how  long  shall  this  day  be  postponed  ?  Should  not  Christians, 
'  knowing  the  time',  after  1800 years  feel  '  that  now  it  is  high  time 
to  awake  out  of  sleep'?  Should  they  not  feel  that  '  the  night '  of 
heathenism  'is  far  spent ',  and  that  '  the  day  '  of  the  Gospel  'is  at 
hand '?  Should  they  not  be  girding  on  the  '  armor  of  light ', 
laboring  and  praying  that  the  time  may  be  hastened  in  which 
the  '  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  of  His  Christ'?  The  accomplishment  of  this  work 
must  be  entered  upon  to-day  by  every  Christian  in  his  particular 
sphere.  To  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  especially,  the  enquiry  is 
addressed  by  their  Lord,  'Whom  shall  we  send?'  and  '  who  will 
go  for  us  ?'  Some  one  must  answer  '  Here  am  I,  send  me ';  or  else 
how  will  the  heathen  know  how  to  call  for  salvation  '  on  Him  in 

0 


26 

whom  they  have  not  believed  ?  and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him 
of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without 
a  preacher  V  The  question  is  who  will  go  ?  Many  rise  up  and 
say,  truly,  we  cannot  go.  Some,  perhaps,  hear  not  the  call  as 
addressed  to  themselves ;  certain  it  is  but  few  go.  But  what 
answer  shall  /give  to  Him  who  died  upon  the  cross,  and  left  His 
command  that  every  creature  should  hear  of  His  salvation,  should 
He  enquire  of  me,  when  seated  on  His  throne  of  judgment,  why 
the  idolater,  who  stood  by  my  side  on  earth  worshipped  a  stock, 
or  stone,  or  sun,  or  moon,  had  not  '  heard  ',  that  he  might  have 
'  believed ',  and  have  called  upon  His  precious  name  for  salvation? 
"What  answer  could  I  make  ?  Must  I  not  be  speechless  ?  For 
surely  I  could  not  say, '  I  knew  that  thou  wast  an  hard  Master', 
requiring  me  to  give  up  friends,  and  home,  and  country,  and  go 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  for  He  has  graciously  promised  to  be 
with  such, '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world'.  With  such  a  Friend  and  Comforter  by  my  side,  ought  I, 
could  I,  count  His  service  '  hard '?  But  should  I,  '  after  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  to  others',  would  I  not  be  deservedly  '  myself  a 
castaway '? 

"  But  I  see  that  I  am  passing  beyond  the  limits  I  had  assigned 
myself.  What  I  mean  to  say  is  pretty  nearly  contained  in  this,  that 
I  believe  the  world  to  be  in  rebellion  against  its  rightful  ruler — 
God ;  that  I,  having  entered  into  his  service,  feel  that  the  inter- 
ests of  His  kingdom  will  be  better  advanced  by  persuading  those 
yet  wielding  their  arms  to  lay  them  aside  and  penitently  submit  to 
Him  whom  they  have  forsaken,  rather  than  by  staying  among 
those  who  have  returned  to  their  allegiance,  persuading  them  to  con- 
tinue faithful.  Many,  very  many  otlier  things  might  be  said 
upon  this  overwhelmingly  interesting  subject,  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  way  of  eternal  salvation,  but  I  leave  them  now.  What 
I  have  said  is  as  cold  a  statement  of  facts  as  could  well  be  made." 


27 

From  the  above  letter,  we  also  learn  that  the  missionary 
work  of  its  writer  was  already  begun ;  that  it  began  in  his  own 
family,  and  that  its  first  fruits  was  the  conversion  of  his  youngest 
brother,  Gerald  F.  Dale,  to  Christ.  Having  found  the  Saviour 
himself  and  having  learned  from  sweet  experience  the  precious- 
ness  of  the  Redeemer,  he,  like  Andrew,  one  of  the  first  of  our 
Lord's  disciples,  found  his  own  brother,  and  brought  him  to  Jesus. 

This  brother  also  looked  forward  to  the  Ministry,  and  in- 
dulged the  hope  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  labor  for  Christ 
and  the  souls  of  men  on  heathen  ground.  Failing  health,  how- 
ever, compelled  him  to  give  up  his  studies  and  denied  to  him  the 
privilege  which  his  young  heart  craved ;  but,  in  the  Providence 
of  God,  he  has  been  permitted  to  give  to  this  work  a  son,  who 
bears  his  own  name,  and  who  is,  at  this  time,  a  successful  and 
greatly  honored  ambassador  for  Christ  in  Zahleh,  Syria. 

In  the  Service  of  the  American  Beard. 

Having  chosen  the  foreign  field  as  the  place  for  the  exercise 

of  his  ministry.  Dr.  Dale  offered  himself  to  the  American  Board 

of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  was  accepted  as  one 

of  its  missionaries.     It  was  designed  to  send  him  to  Rajpootana, 

Hindostan,  to  establish  a  new  mission  at  that  place.     After  his 

appointment,  he  joyfully  writes : 

"  Since  reading  a  work,  by  Col.  Tod,  on  the  country,  I  feel 
an  increased  desire  to  be  soon  in  the  midst  of  that  people,  making 
a  beginning  in  the  erection  of  that  temple  to  the  true  God,  within 
whose  walls  every  Rajpoot  must  sooner  or  later  bow  the  knee  of 
homage." 


28 

The  Board  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  send  Dr.  Dale  out 
alone  to  establish  the  proposed  mission ;  nor  was  any  one  known 
to  its  members  who  was  willing  to  go  with  him.  Meanwhile, 
being  now  a  licentiate,  the  Board  commissioned  him  to  visit  the 
churches  of  Long  Island  and  of  Eastern  Massachusetts.  He  be- 
gan this  visitation  of  the  churches,  in  behalf  of  the  Board,  in 
the  spring  of  1835,  and  was  engaged  in  it  for  a  year.  He  preached 
wherever  he  could  find  an  open  door,  or  could  open  a  door  for 
himself,  on  the  subject  of  Foreign  Missions,  with  a  view  of  arous- 
ing the  churches  to  a  deeper  interest  in  that  cause,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  men  and  money  for  a  more  vigorous  prosecu- 
tion of  the  work  ;  and  especially  did  he  keep  before  his  mind  the 
idea  of  finding  some  who  were  willing  to  go  with  him  to  his 
intended  destination.  His  eflbrts  for  the  Board  were  successful, 
in  part  at  least,  but  he  found  no  one  who  was  willing  and  ready 
to  be  his  companion  to  Rajpootana.  During  this  time,  calls  were 
offered  to  him  from  several  churches,  but  he  discouraged  them,  and 
when  they  were  made  out  without  previously  consulting  him, 
he  promptly  declined  them. 

The  Study  of  Medicine. 

While  watching  the  developments  of  Providence  and  wait- 
ing for  marching  orders  from  the  Board,  he  did  not  spend  his 
time  in  idleness.  Various  studies  occupied  his  mind,  as  Theology, 
Botany,  Human  Nature,  and  especially  the  study  of  medicine. 

His  waiting  place  was  his  home,  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
attended  the  lectures  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University 


29 

of  Pennsylvania.  It  was  his  intention  to  get  only  a  general  idea 
of  medicine,  in  order  that  he  might  be  better  qualified  for  the 
great  work  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  life.  He  supposed  that 
this  was  all  that  his  stay  in  America  would  permit ;  but,  unex- 
pectedly to  himself,  he  continued  in  this  line  of  study  until  he 
completed  the  course  and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine, which  was  conferred  on  him  in  1838. 

At  his  graduation,  as  a  student  of  medicine,  in  accordance 
with  the  usual  requirement  of  the  University,  he  wrote  a  thesis. 
Most  of  the  students  wrote  on  some  disease  or  organ  of  the  body, 
but  Dr.  Dale  selected  as  his  subject,  "  The  Connection  Between 
Medical  Science  and  Revealed  Religion."  The  Professor  under 
whose  department  a  thesis  came  generally  spoke  to  the  student, 
during  his  examination,  of  his  thesis.  At  any  rate,  Dr.  Dale 
expected  that,  as  his  subject  was  a  novel  one,  something  would 
be  said  of  the  thesis  which  he  had  presented.  He,  however, 
passed  from  one  Professor  to  another,  but  no  man  mentioned  it. 
He  heard  from  other  students  that  some  one  of  the  Professors 
had  spoken  to  them  of  their  papers,  and  thought  it  strange  that 
nothing  was  said  of  his.  The  last  Professor  by  whom  he  was 
examined  was  Dr.  Hugh  L.  Hodge,  who  was  a  brother  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  The 
young  medical  graduate  thought  within  himself,  as  he  went  to 
his  final  examination.  Surely  Dr.  Hodge  will  speak  of  my  thesis, 
but  even  he  said  not  a  word.  Years  after,  Dr.  Dale,  in  relating 
this  incident  of  his  life  to  the  writer,  spoke  of  the  great  disap- 
pointment with  which  he  went  away  from  the  examination  of 
Dr.  Hodge.     It  was  not,  as  he  said,  because  he  thought  there  was 


30 

any  special  merit  in  his  thesis,  but  because  he  expected  that 
the  novelty  of  his  subject  would  call  forth  remark  of  some  kind. 
Soon  after  he  received  his  degree  of  M.  D.,  he  went  to  Alle- 
gheny, Pa.,  to  spend  some  time  with  his  brother,  Thomas  F.  Dale, 
M.  D.,  who  had  a  large  and  influential  practice  in  that  and  the 
neighboring  city  of  Pittsburgh.  Having  studied  the  theory,  he 
now  desired  to  learn  the  practical  part  of  the  healing  art.  It 
was  while  he  was  thus  engaged  that  he  received  the  first  intima- 
tion that  the  Medical  Faculty  had  taken  any  notice  of  his  medical 
thesis.  "We  can  readily  imagine  his  gratification  when  we  learn 
that  he  received  a  letter  from  the  Faculty,  which  expressed  their 
great  appreciation  of  his  production,  begged  his  pardon  for  hav- 
ing had  it  printed,  without  consulting  him,  and  asked  his  accept- 
ance of  a  number  of  copies  which  they  had  forwarded  to  his 
address.  Years  after,  he  accidentally  saw  the  same  thesis  in  a 
volume  containing  important  papers  on  medical  subjects. 

Working;  Waiting  and  Watching. 

During  his  medical  course,  young  Dale  worked  almost  inces- 
santly, night  and  day.  In  addition  to  his  medical  studies,  he 
prepared  sermons,  preached  every  Sabbath  and  did  much  pastoral 
work.  He  was  the  regular  supply  of  several  of  the  Presbyterian 
churches,  in  Philadelphia,  as  the  Fifth  and  Fifteenth.  This  re- 
quired him  to  make  special  preparation  for  the  pulpit  from  week 
to  week.  So  busy  was  he  that  his  famous  medical  thesis  was 
hastily  written,  at  one  sitting,  and  copied  by  the  hand  of  his 
brother  for  presentation  to  the  Faculty. 


31 

All  tliroiigli  tills  busy  period,  he  kept  his  foreign  missionary 
work  constantly  before  his  mind.  Indeed,  it  was  this  thought 
that  gave  impulse  to  all  his  purposes  and  direction  to  all  his  plans. 
The  offer  of  pleasant  pastoral  settlements  and  the  arguments  and 
persuasions  of  loving  friends  were  brought  to  bear  upon  him  to 
induce  him  to  turn  aside  from  the  foreign  missionary  field  and  to 
devote  himself  to  home  work.  The  steadfastness  of  his  determina- 
tion was  tested  at  every  pf)int,  but  he  stood  lirm.  Several  of  his 
letters,  written  to  his  brother,  Mr.  Gerald  F.  Dale,  have  been,  for- 
tunately, preserved.  "We  make  use  of  some  extracts  from  these, 
because  they  give  us  the  best  idea  that  we  can  now  get  of  his 
thoughts  and  occupations,  of  the  incidents  and  experiences  through 
which  he  passed  during  this  season  of  suspense  in  regard  to  the 
future  of  his  life:  "April  21, 1836. 

"You  have,  no  doubt,  been  much  engaged  this  term,  and  I 
have  not  been  wholly  idle.  Yet,  I  seem  to  accomplish  but  little 
from  day  to  day.  I  have,  as  you  already  knoAV,  been  supplying 
one  portion  of  Dr.  Skinner's  old  flock,  and  have,  at  the  same  time, 
been  attending  medical  lectures,  also  geological  lectures,  and  botani- 
cal, and  taking  lessons  in  drawing.  These  duties,  and  others  inci- 
dental to  them,  have  occupied  my  time  pretty  closely,  but  I  hardly 
feel  satisfied  with  myself  at  the  progress  which  I  make  in  them. 

"I  do  not  know  how  long  I  shall  continue  the  study  of  medi- 
cine, though  probably  until  August,  at  least.  The  Summer  course 
then  terminates.  Should  I  go  out  in  September,  that  Avill  proba- 
bly close  my  studies  in  this  country.  Should  I  not  leave  then,  I 
may  resume  them  in  the  Fall. 

"Mr.  Anderson  is  expected  hi  the  city  (Philadelphia)  in  a  few 
weeks,  to  deliver  instructions  to  two  young  men  going  out  to  China. 


32 

I  am  anxious  to  see  him,  as  my  movements  may  be  affected  by 
the  question  whether  associates  can  be  obtained  to  accompany  me 
in  the  Fall.  As  yet,  none  are  secured.  I  wish  it  to  be  determined 
as  soon  as  possible,  in  order  that  my  own  arrangements  may  be 
made  more  definitely."  ,  j^^^  27,  1836. 

"I  expect  to  continue  in  the  cit}^  (Philadelphia)  until  August, 
when  I  leave  for  Prince  Edward's  and  Allegheny  Seminaries,  cer- 
tainly. Providence  permitting,  and  perhaps,  Cincinnati  and  (return- 
ing) Andover.  This  will,  in  some  measure,  answer  your  inquiry 
as  to  my  success  in  finding  an  associate.  *  *  *  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  met  Mr.  Taylor,  at  present  residing  in  the  city,  but 
of  JS^ew  Haven.  He  has  said  that  were  he  ready,  he  knows  of 
nothing  to  prevent  his  going  to  Rajpootana.  His  studies,  however, 
I  believe,  will  not  close  regularly  until  at  least  a  year.  But  this 
need  not  prevent  his  becoming  ultimately  a  fellow  laborer  in  the 
wide  field  of  ]!Torthern  India. 

"I  do  not  know,  of  course,  yet  what  will  be  my  success  in 
obtaining  those  who  will  go  forth  immediately  in  this  work.  But 
I  would  not  be  over  anxious  in  regard  to  it.  I  pray  that  I  may  do 
nothing  to  hasten  unduly,  or  retard  improperly,  that  which  is  right 
in  the  sight  of  God. 

"Should  I  not  find  an  associate,  who  can  go  out,  in  the  Fall,  it 
may  seem  advisable  to  the  Board  that  I  should  go  out  alone  and, 
in  some  measure,  prepare  the  wa.}^  If  this  be  best,  I  am  not  only 
ready,  but  will  most  cheerfully  arise  to  run  in  the  way  of  Grod's 
commandments.  This,  in  brief,  answers  another  of  your  inqui- 
ries in  relation  to  the  influence  exerted  upon  my  mind  b}^  conver- 
sations had  Avith  Thomas*  on  missionary  matters. 

"My  own  mind  has  not,  so  far  as  I  am  conscious,  been  moved 
in  the  slightest  degree  from  the  position  which  it  before  occupied. 

♦Thomas  was  his  brother,  Dr.  T.  F.  Dale,  of  Allegheny,  Pa. 


33 

i^othing  lias  been  advanced  which  lias  tended  to  make  me  hesitate 
as  to  what  is  duty.  In  saying  this,  I  do  not  mean  in  the  remotest 
degree  to  speak  slightingly  of  the  arguments  which  may  be  ad- 
vanced, showing  the  need  of  laborers  at  home;  or  which  tend  to 
i:)rove  that  particular  persons  should  stay  at  home.  There  are 
many  such,  which  are  weighty  and  just.     *     *     * 

"The  will  of  God,  exhibited  both  in  Providence  and  Scripture, 
in  relation  to  the  spread  of  His  kingdom  through  the  world,  ap- 
pears to  me  exceedingly  plain.  This  will  seems  now  to  have  a 
doubly  binding  force  from  the  past  and  present  neglect  of  all  of  us 
to  fultill  it.  In  coming  to  this  decision  and  maintaining  this  stead- 
fastness of  purpose,  I  claim  for  myself  no  unusual  perspicuity  of 
mind  or  grace  of  heart.  The  light  shines  too  clearly  to  prevent 
conviction  fastening  itself  upon  my  mind,  and  so  long  as  I  hold 
myself  ready  to  do  the  will  of  God,  I  must  go  onward  in  the  path 
which  he  marks  out  for  me." 

"December  31,1836. 

"I  had  not  expected  when  we  spent  the  close  of  the  last  and 
the  beginning  of  the  present  year  together,  that  I  should  spend 
another  in  this  land.  But  so  it  has  been  ordered  in  the  Providence 
of  God.  It  has  not  been  in  the  power  of  the  Board  to  send  forth 
the  mission  for  want  of  men,  and  now  it  seems  that  they  are 
straitened  in  their  desire  for  want  of  money. 

"In  the  meantime,  my  circumstances  have  been  so  ordered  as 
to  tend,  in  a  high  degree,  if  impro\'ed,  to  prepare  me  for  my  future 
anticipated  work.  I  refer  particularly  to  the  oi)}»()rtunity  for  study- 
ing medicine,  at  the  same  time  for  preaching  and  thus  becoming 
familiar  with  the  mode  of  exhibiting  truth. 

"While  both  of  these  objects  have  been  furthered,  I  have  had 
opportunity  likewise  to  become  better  acquainted  with  mj'self, 
both  in  mind  and  heart;  also  with  the  general  character  of  my 


34 

fellow-men,  with  whom  I  must  hereafter  be  brought  into  such  fre- 
quent and  intimate  contact." 
^  '"March  16, 1837. 

"It  is  most  probable  that  I  shall  continue  where  I  am  Ibr 
another  year.  The  funds  of  the  Board  are  now  inadequate  to  meet 
the  demands  that  are  made  upon  them  and  they  feel  unwarranted, 
under  the  circumstances,  to  undertake  the  estal)lishment  of  new 
missions.  They  would  feel  unjustified  in  so  doing,  though  men 
were  ready  to  go  forth.  *  *  *  There  are  those  who  stand  ready 
to  go  by  next  Spring  and  have  signitied  the  same  to  the  Board. 
But  under  the  peculiar  circumstances,  they  hesitate  to  make  the 
appointments,  though  they  have  not  wholly  declined.  I  trust, 
however,  that  it  shall  not  be,  when  laborers  are  ready  to  go  and 
take  possession  of  new  ground,  in  the  name  of  the  Great  Master, 
that  they  will  be  hindered  by  the  want  of  pecuniary  means.  I 
trust,  therefore,  by  another  Spring,  that  the  Rajpoot  mission  will 
be  entered  upon  according  to  the  will  of  God.     *     *     * 

"We  are  now  in  the  last  week  of  our  Winter  course  of  medi- 
cal lectures  and  within  two  weeks  of  the  Summer  course.  I  shall 
be  happy  in  the  termination  of  our  seven  hour  sessions,  daily,  as  I 
have  been  very  happy  in  the  privilege  of  even  toiling  through 
them.  My  health,  however,  has  experienced  scarce  an  hour's 
derangement,  notwithstanding  the  Winter's  studies ;  and  they  have 
been  much  severer  than  gone  through  previously  in  the  same  period 
of  time.  I  am  preaching  now  every  Sabbath  to  little  companies, 
in  Lombard  Street.  There  is  much  to  be  done,  and  I  find  greater 
happiness  in  doing  what  little  I  can  than  I  have  experienced  ever 
before." 

Through  all  this  season  of  working,  waiting  and  watching 
and  of  much  anxiety  in  regard  to  the  future  of  his  life  work — that 
missionary  work  to  which  he  had  so  unreservedly  consecrated  him- 


35 

self — his  letters  show  that  he  implicitly  trusted  his  blessed  Master; 
that  he  fully  recognized  the  Divine  Sovereignty;  that  he  earnestly 
desired  to  know  the  will  of  God;  that  he  sincerely  sought  to  l)e 
led  by  that  will,  and  to  bring  his  own  will  into  perfect  harmony 
with  the  will  of  his  Lord.  This  is  the  submissive  spirit  that  runs 
through  all  his  letters,  during  this  trying  period,  and,  in  fact, 
through  his  entire  life.  When  most  men  would  have  been  crushed 
with  despondency,  he  was  ever  hopeful;  where  others  could  see 
only  the  blackness  of  despair,  he  saw  a  rift  in  the  clouds,  through 
which  he  looked  upon  the  smiling  face  of  his  Gfod  and  Father; 
where  others  could  hear  no  voice  of  comfort  and  of  hope,  he  could 
hear  the  Divine  Master,  as  the  disciples  heard  Him,  saying:  "Be 
of  good  cheer;  it  is  I;  be  not  afraid".  The  following  will  to  some 
extent  illustrate  further  this  feature  of  his  character: 

"October  18,  1838. 
"My  mind  is  becoming  increasingly  anxious  as  to  my  future 
course.  The  next  step  will,  probably,  be  one  which  will  determine 
the  character  and  degree  of  my  influence  on  the  earth.  It  will 
consequently  affect  my  eternity,  and  that  of  many  others.  There 
is  but  one  path  in  which  duty  lies,  while  there  are  many,  very 
many,  which  tempt  the  wandering  step  to  tread  them.  I  am  well 
persuaded  that  it  were  better  that  a  mill  stone  were  hanged  about 
my  neck  and  I  drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea,  than  that  I  should 
wilfully  turn  away  from  the  path  of  duty  whithersoever  it  might 
lead  me.  I  am  also  fully  persuaded  that  if  any  lack  wisdom 
and  ask  of  God,  He  will  grant  unto  them  all  needed  guidance. 
Hitherto,  I  have  felt  a  pleasing  assurance  that  I  have  committed 
myself  unreservedly  to  His  control.  In  looking  l)ack  on  the  way 
I  have  come,  there  is  nothing  which  induces  a  belief  that  thus  tar 
my  steps  have  trodden  a  forbidden  path. 


36 

"At  present,  I  appear  to  have  arrived  at  a  point  where  the 
right  onward  path  seems  very  greatly,  if  not  entirely,  hedged  up. 
There  is  more  than  one  diverging  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left. 
It  may  he  duty  to  take  one  of  these,  or  it  may  be  duty  to  attempt 
pressing  through  the  opposing  barrier,  to  tread  the  brier  under 
foot,  and  clamber  over  the  rising  rock,  and  leap  the  yawning  chasm. 
If  my  heart  were  fully  persuaded  that  the  last  was  God's  will,  I 
believe  I  could,  without  feeling  that  there  was  occasion  for  hesi- 
tance  or  fear,  go  right  onward,  not,  indeed,  as  feeling  my  own 
resolution  or  powers  were  adequate,  but  the  grace  of  God.  The 
principles  which  have  guided  me  hitherto  remain  just  as  evidently 
true  and  immovable  as  when  the  mercy  of  God  opened  my  eyes 
first  to  regard  them  as  His  everlasting  truth.  I  would  as  soon 
expect  heaven  and  earth  to  pass  away  as  to  see  them  fail.  Circum- 
stances, in  view  of  which  those  principles  are  regarded,  may  change, 
and  it  may  be  duty  for  us  to  change  our  course  of  action,  just  as 
much  so  as  originally  to  enter  upon  it,  but  then  the  principles 
themselves  remain  unchangeable. 

"I  have  yet  received  no  letter  from  Boston,  though  I  have 
written  twice.  It  is  my  desire  to  go  there,  on  Monday  next, 
Providence  permitting,  and  continue  on  to  Portland.  Ere  I  return, 
material  will  probably  be  procured  for  a  determination  as  to  my 
labors  for  the  coming  year,  may  be  for  life,  for  eternity.  May  my 
whole  body,  soul  and  spirit  be  laid  at  the  feet  of  my  Divine 
Master,  nor  move  thence  till  guided  by  His  Spirit.     ^     *     * 

"Your  o^vn  plans,  my  dear  brother,  have  been  greatly  modified 
within  a  short  period.  How  delightful  it  is,  at  every  period  of  doubt, 
to  look  up  and  ask,  'Lord  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?'  And  at 
every  change,  what  quietude  is  difl:used  through  the  heart  when  we 
can  feel  that  God's  will  has  been  done,  and  therefore  ours.  May  the 
grace  of  God  be  with  you  in  all  future  changes,  and  your  experience 
testify  that  grace  is  abundantly  adequate  to  meet  all  your  wants." 


37 
EjEHEral  Agent  nf  Fenna.  Bible  Saciety. 

Dr.  Dale  did  not  remain  long  with  his  brother,  Dr.  Thomas 
F.  Dale,  as  a  practitioner  of  medicine.  He  had  not  studied  medi- 
cine for  mere  professional  purposes,  but  as  a  means  to  an  end. 
That  end  was  his  greater  usefulness  and  efficiency  as  a  preacher  of 
"the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God"  to  the  benighted  heathen. 
God's  call  to  him  was  "Go  preach  my  Gospel";  and  the  "Woe  is 
me  if  I  preach  not  the  Gospel"  was  ever  upon  him.  He  did  not  care 
for  the  title,  "Doctor  of  Medicine",  which  he  so  laboriously  won. 
So  indifterent  was  he  about  it,  that,  in  a  few  years,  the  new 
acquaintances  and  friends  that  he  made  did  not  even  know  that  he 
was  a  Doctor  at  all. 

It  is  evident  that  Dr.  Dale  found  the  material,  of  which  he 
wrote  in  the  letter  of  October  18,  1838,  and  which  determined  his 
labors,  not  only  for  one  year,  but  for  about  seven  years,  yes,  for  life. 
Soon  after  this  date  we  find  that  he  had  accepted  an  invitation 
from  the  Pennsylvania  Bible  Society  to  become  its  General  Agent. 
In  this  capacity,  his  duties  were  laborious,  as  they  deprived  him 
of  any  fixed  habitation,  and  required  him  to  be  almost  constantly 
travelling  from  place  to  place,  mostly  by  stages  or  canal  boats.  To 
a  man  of  slturujus  tastes  and  habits,  who  was  a  lover  of  books, 
this  was  not  a  congenial  mode  of  living.  But  Dr.  Dale  saw  in  it 
the  leadings  of  God's  Providence;  he  saw  the  finger  of  his  Mas- 
ter pointing  to  this  as  His  work  for  him  to  do,  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  take  up  cheerfully  the  work  that  was  laid  upon  him. 
So  long  as  he  heard  the  Divine  voice  saying:  "This  is  the  way. 


38 

walk  ye  in  it,"  he  went  about  his  "Father's  business",  contented 
and  happy. 

During  his  connection  with  the  Bible  Society,  he  visited  all 
the  cities  and  principal  towns  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  as  well 
as  many  important  points  in  Delaware  and  Maryland.  In  season 
and  out  of  season,  in  private  as  well  as  in  public,  wherever  and 
whenever  an  opportunity  offered,  he  was  ready  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ  and  to  present  the  claims  of  the  Society  which  he 
represented.  Through  his  instrumentality,  funds  were  collected 
for  carrying  on  the  work,  local  organizations  were  established,  and 
about  seventy-five  thousand  Bibles  were  distributed.  From  his 
letters,  we  learn  that,  in  the  stages  and  on  the  canal  boats  by  which 
he  travelled,  he  had  conversations  with  men  of  all  sorts,  which  led 
to  discussions  on  the  Bible  and  the  great  themes  of  the  religion  of 
Christ.  In  various  ways,  his  labors  were  abundantly  blessed  to 
the  good  of  the  Society  and  of  many  others  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact.  The  Rev.  Dr.  W.  W.  Spear,  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church,  who  was  then  acting  as  Secretary  of  this  Society,  thus 
writes  of  the  value  of  the  service  and  agency  of  Dr.  Dale: 

"  So  long  a  period  has  passed  that  I  cannot  now  recall  particu- 
lars, but  the  general  impression  remains  of  a  very  pleasant  charac- 
ter; so  much  so  that  I  felt  constrained  to  attend  his  funeral,  at 
some  inconvenience  to  myself,  and  without  an  invitation  from 
others,  and  while  there  to  volunteer  a  brief  tribute  to  his  worth.  *  * 

"It  was  nearly  forty  years  ago  that  I  was  the  acting  Secretary 
of  the  Pemisylvania  Bible  Society,  and  Dr.  Dale  was  the  General 
Agent  of  the  same.  *  *  *  "W"e  all  appreciated  Dr.  Dale's 
activity,  geniality  and  usefulness  in  the  Bible  cause  throughout  the 


39 

State.  It  was  a  somewhat  critical  period  in  its  history,  reqnii'in(>;  a 
special  measure  of  judgment  and  kindness,  as  we  were  involved  in  a 
perplexing  litigation  with  the  Young  Men's  Bible  Society  of  Pitts- 
burgh, which  was  likely  to  divide  the  strength  and  weaken  the 
efforts  of  our  friends.  But  through  the  labors  of  Dr.  Dale  and  a 
committee  of  the  Board,  a  fatal  division  was  prevented  for  the 
time.  Though  Dr.  Dale  and  myself  left  Philadelphia,  and  co-oper- 
ated no  more,  and  seldom  met  during  the  long  interval  since,  yet  I 
know  that  he,  as  well  as  I,  retained  a  warm  feeling  of  personal 
regard  through  life." 

The  work  in  which  Dr.  Dale  was  engaged,  in  itself  considered, 
was  not  only  uncongenial  to  such  a  mind  as  his,  but  it  was  calcu- 
lated to  destroy  the  fixed  habits  of  study  which  one  acquires  in  a 
collegiate  and  theological  training.  It  did  not  so  act,  however,  in 
the  case  of  Dr.  Dale.  In  the  midst  of  many  changing  scenes  and 
of  many  things  that  occupied  his  mind  and  distracted  his  thoughts, 
he  not  only  persisted  in  keeping  up  his  classical  studies,  but  he 
took  up  and  mastered  the  German  language  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  often  spoke  and  sometimes  preached  in  that  tongue. 

On  the  10th  of  July,  1845,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Managers 
of  the  Bible  Society,  and  presented  his  resignation  of  the  office  of 
General  Agent,  which  was  accepted.  At  the  close  of  his  letter  he 
says: 

"I  would,  therefore,  render  back  to  you  the  high  trust  con- 
fided to  me  as  your  General  Agent.  In  so  doing,  niy  heart  is  filled 
with  the  most  grateful  emotion  in  view  of  the  coiifidence  re^x^sed 
in  me,  as  manifested  by  the  original  call  to  this  post  of  duty  and 
its  uninterrupted  contiiniance  through  a  period  of  nearly  seven 
years.  My  labors  have  been  prosecuted  with  gladness  of  heart- 
May  their  fruit  be  unto  the  glory  of  God!    With  unfeigned  regret, 


40 

I  anticipate  the  dissolution  of  the  relation  which  has  so  long  sab- 
feisted  between  ns." 

Missianary  Hopes  Ended. 

He  was  now  thoroughl}^  qualified,  as  it  would  seem  to  Dr. 
Dale  and  to  others,  for  the  work  of  a  foreign  missionary.  By 
natural  endowment,  he  had  a  strong  physical  constitution.  He 
had  energy  and  enthusiasm  to  follow  the  leadings  of  Providence 
in  all  his  undertakings.  He  was  courageous  and  courteous,  and 
would  not  flinch  from  duty  in  the  presence  of  any  foe;  and  yet 
his  treatment  of  an  opponent  would  be  such  as  to  win  him  to  the 
truth.  By  diligent  study  and  mental  cultivation,  he  had  become 
a  trained  theologian  and  physician.  His  seven  years'  experience 
in  the  work  of  the  Bible  Society  had  brought  him  into  contact 
with  all  classes  of  men,  and  had  given  him  a  fine  opportunity  for 
the  study  of  human  nature,  which  is  aliout  the  same  everywhere. 
But  notwithstanding  all  these  qualifications,  it  had  now  become 
evident  to  Dr.  Dale  that  the  foreign  field  was  not  to  be  the  voca- 
tion of  his  life.  It  must  have  seemed  strano;e  to  him  to  see  the 
door  to  it  slowly  closing  against  him. 

He  was  kept  back,  first,  by  the  difficulty  of  finding  suitable 
persons  to  go  with  him  to  the  special  work  for  which  the  Board 
desired  his  services,  and  whom  the  Board  deemed  necessary.  Then, 
secondly,  there  was  the  discouragement  to  the  Board  of  an  empty 
treasury,  which  sent  Dr.  Dale  into  other  work  for  seven  years. 
And,  lastly,  by  this  time,  he  had  married  a  wife,  whose  health  was 
such  that  she  could  not  well  leave  home  for  a  foreign  land.     It  was 


41 

a  sore  disappointment  to  Dr.  Dale  when  he  fully  realized  that  he 
must  give  up  the  hope  which  he  had  so  fondly  cherished  through 
so  many  years,  of  preaching  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  those  who 
had  never  heard  the  glad  tidings.*  He  had,  however,  learned 
early  in  his  Christian  life,  that  as  the  rivers  are  lost  in  the  ocean, 
so  the  will  of  every  true  servant  of  Christ  must  be  lost  in  that  of 
his  Divine  Lord.  He,  therefore,  cheerfully  accepted  the  work 
which  the  Master  had  assigned  to  him,  and  gave  to  its  prosecution 
the  gifts  and  graces  with  which  he  was  endowed.  Whatever  the 
foreign  field  has  lost  by  this  change  in  the  current  of  his  life,  it  is 
very  certain  that  the  religious  world,  as  well  as  the  community 
in  which  his  life  was  spent,  has  been  a  great  gainer. 

Samestic  Life. 


While  engaged  as  the  General  Agent  of  the  Bible  Society, 
Dr.  Dale  visited  Newark,  Delaware,  where  he  was  the  guest  of  the 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Rev.  Elijah  Wilson.  Here 
it  was  that  he  met  for  the  first  time  Miss  Mary  Goldsborough 
Gray,  the  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Rebecca  Rodgers  Gray,  who 
were  residents  of  New  Castle  County,  Delaware.  The  acquaintance 
ripened  into  an  aftection  which  resulted  in  their  marriage,  on  May 
14,  1844.  In  personal  appearance,  Mrs.  Dale  was  a  large,  hand- 
some woman.  By  culture  and  disposition  she  was  well  qualified 
for  her  position  as  a  pastor's  wife.  She  was  gentle  in  her  manner, 
forbearing,  patient  and  sympathetic  in  spirit.    In  her  home,  which 

*  Since  the  above  was  written.  Miss  Annie  G.  Dale,  Dr.  Dale's  youngest  daughter,  has 
become  a  foreign  missionary,  and  is  now  laboring  under  the  care  of  the  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  at  Teheran,  Persia. 


42 

was  the  chief  sphere  of  her  influence,  she  entertained  his  friends 
and  her  own  with  a  queenly  dignity,  and  yet  with  a  cordial  and 
warm  hearted  hospitality,  which  every  guest  beneath  their  roof 
richly  enjoyed.  In  his  earlier  ministry,  she  accompanied  him  in 
his  pastoral  visits  to  his  congregation,  and  always  received  a  hearty 
welcome  from  the  people.  In  later  years  when  family  cares  in- 
creased, and  ill  health  compelled  her  to  be  more  and  more  a  "  keeper 
at  home,"  she  stood  between  him  and  many  useless  callers,  when  he 
was  busy  in  his  study.  She  would  hear  the  case,  and,  if  she  thought 
it  necessary  to  disturb  him,  she  would  report  to  him,  or  admit  the 
caller  into  his  study.  Mrs.  Dale,  in  her  own  quiet  way,  carried  her 
full  share  of  her  husband's  burdens  and  was  in  all  respects  a  true 
wife  and  a  faithful  help-meet  to  him.  So  much  was  Dr.  Dale  occu- 
pied with  numerous  cares  and  labors  outside  of  his  home  that  the 
care  and  training  of  the  children  was  largely  left  to  their  mother. 

Their  home  was  made  joyous  by  the  birth  of  six  children — 
two  sons  and  four  daughters.  They  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  pro- 
viding for  some  of  their  children  only  a  short  time,  when  the 
Lord  who  gave  them  took  them  home  to  himself  Their  second 
child,  and  the  third  also,  lived  only  two  years  and  five  months. 
In  the  same  day  one  child  was  born  and  another  died.  In  the 
midst  of  these  Providences  that  darkened  their  home  and  filled 
their  hearts  with  sadness  and  sorrow,  these  parents  were  sustained 
by  their  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God,  so  that, 
like  Job,  they  could  say:  "The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath 
taken  away;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord".  Dr.  Dale  spoke 
himself  at  the  funeral  of  at  least  one  of  these  children,  from  the 


43 

story  of  David's  intercession  for  his  child,  and  his  submission  to 
the  will  of  God  when  the  child  was  dead.  The  older  people  of 
his  charge  well  remember  him  as  he  stood  beside  the  little  coffin 
of  his  beloved  daughter,  "Roddie,"  and  preached  to  them  of  the 
sovereignty  of  God  in  the  giving  of  children  to  bless  the  home 
and  in  the  removing  of  them  from  our  loving  care  to  the  arms  of 
the  Good  Shepherd.  It  was  manifest  to  all  who  heard  him  that 
his  fatherly  heart  was  sorely  tried,  and  that  his  faith  in  God  was 
more  than  equal  to  the  test.  Though  he  spoke  through  his  tears, 
they  were  the  tears  of  submission  to  Him  who  doeth  all  things 

well. 

After  many  years  of  patient  and  painful  suffering,  and  al- 
most entire  exclusion  from  society,  of  which  she  was  a  gifted  and 
genial  member,  Mrs.  Dale,  on  ITovember  14, 1875,  surrounded  by 
her  husband  and  her  three  children,  exchanged  the  burdens  and 
sufferings  of  earth  for  the  rest  and  enjoyment  of  heaven.  This 
was  the  heaviest  blow  that  had  ever  fallen  upon  Dr.  Dale.  He 
knew  that  he  would  most  keenly  feel  the  loss  of  his  good  wife's 
care,  counsel  and  companionship.  But  in  his  own  great  loss,  he 
saw  her  everlasting  gain;  he  recognized  the  hand  of  his  Father, 
God,  and  with  all  the  confidence,  simplicity  and  trust  of  a  truly 
submissive  child,  he  said:  "Not  my  will,  but  Thine  be  done." 
In  the  old  grave-yard  at  Middletown,  where  he  had  so  often 
stood  with  his  parishioners  and  buried  the  dead  of  his  congrega- 
tions, he  stood  by  the  open  grave  of  his  own  beloved  wife,  and, 
when  her  mortal  remains  had  been  lowered  into  their  place  of 
rest  until  the  day  of  the  resurrection,  his  soul  was  so  filled  with 
the  Divine  presence  that  he  broke  forth  in  a  prayer  so  sweet  and 


44 

tender  that  his  voice  seemed  like  that  of  a  seraph  before  the 
throne  of  God.  The  very  fountains  of  his  being  seemed  to  be 
broken  up.  In  his  prayer,  he  kissed  the  hand  that  had  removed 
forever  from  his  home  his  beloved  Mary,  the  wife  of  his  bosom, 
the  mother  of  his  children,  and  cast  himself  in  all  his  loneliness, 
with  his  motherless  offspring,  upon  the  promises  of  God  and  the 
loving  sympathy  of  Christ.  The  hearts  of  all  who  stood  beside 
him  were  deeply  moved,  as,  with  bowed  head  and  tearful  eyes, 
they  heard  the  man  of  great  physical  and  intellectual  strength 
pleading  by  the  new-made  grave  of  his  wife,  in  fervent  prayer 
with  God. 

The  deatfe  of  his  wife  was  a  wound  that  Dr.  Dale  carried 
with  him  through  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  never  forgot 
her.  He  found  a  melancholy  pleasure  in  speaking  of  her  to  those 
who  had  known  her,  and  in  thinking  of  what  she  had  been  to 
him  as  his  help-meet,  the  sharer  of  his  joys  and  his  sorrows,  his 
ever  willing  and  ready  sympathizer  in  prosperity  and  adversity. 
She  was  absent  and  yet  ever  present  to  his  mind,  moulding  his 
life,  sanctifying  his  character,  and  making  him  more  and  more 
meet  for  the  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

First  Fastaral  SettlemBnt. 


Among  the  various  fields  of  labor  which  presented  themselves 
to  Dr.  Dale,  he  selected  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  Ridley  and 
Middletown,  in  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  was,  as  we 
learn  from  a  letter  of  one  of  the  elders  of  the  Ridley  church,  in- 
forming him  of  the  action  of  these  congregations,  "  unanimously 


45 

elected"  to  the  pastorate  of  this  charge.  "It  was,"  continues  the 
letter,  "well  and  handsomely  done",  June  21,  1845.  The  writer 
of  the  letter  adds,  "We  will  promise  you  and  Mrs.  Dale  a  warm 
welcome,  and  plenty  of  missionary  work,  which  is  what,  I  know, 
you  will  like".  Concerning  the  invitation  to  become  the  pastor  of 
these  churches,  Dr.  Dale  writes:  "I  am  induced  to  regard  the 
invitation  favorably,  because  the  field  of  labor  to  which,  in  God's 
Providence,  I  have  been  invited,  though  long  neglected,  promises 
happy  results  under  proper  cultivation".  Soon  after  accepting  the 
call,  he  entered  upon  his  pastoral  work.  He  was  installed  May 
17, 1846.  The  field  was  an  extensive  one.  There  was  much  work 
to  be  done,  and  many  souls  to  be  won  to  Christ.  The  helpers 
were  few,  because  the  members  of  the  two  churches,  from  various 
causes,  were  discouraged  and  disheartened.  They  were  scattered 
here  and  there  over  a  territory  of  one  hundred  square  miles,  which 
made  the  regular  attendance  of  many  on  the  services  of  the  Sab- 
bath an  ^impossibility.  There  was  but  one  other  Presbyterian 
minister  in  the  county,  and  not  one  self-sustaining  church  of  any 
evangelical  denomination.  There  were  no  railroads  through  the 
county,  but  only  touching  upon  its  outer  borders.  The  young 
pastor  was,  therefore,  largely  cut  oiF  from  fellowship  and  consult- 
ation with  his  ministerial  brethren.  The  field  was  truly  mission- 
ary ground,  involving  physical  endurance  of  hardship  and  exposure, 
many  sacrifices,  much  self-denial,  and  patient,  persevering  toil. 
In  various  ways  he  had  quite  as  much  hardship  in  many  of  these 
experiences  as  if  he  had  been  a  foreign  missionary.  All  this  was 
seen  by  Dr.  Dale  when  he  accepted  the  call  to  these  churches,  and 
strange  as  it  may  seem  to  some,  he  made  choice  of  this  field  for 


46 

the  very  reason  that  such  was  its  character.  He  did  not  then,  nor 
did  he  ever  after,  seek  the  easy  places,  or  the  places  of  worldly 
honor  in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  Believing  that  the  Lord  of  the 
vineyard  had  chosen  his  lot,  he  went  to  the  churches  of  Ridley 
and  Middletown  knowing  of  the  privations  and  hardships  that 
were  in  store  for  him  and  of  the  scanty  support  that  he  would  be 
likely  to  receive,  as  hopefully  and  cheerfully  as  if  he  had  been 
called  to  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  churches  of 
the  land. 

The  young  pastor  and  his  wife  made  their  first  home  in  the 
family  of  Mr.  John  Caldwell,  who  lived  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  City  of  Chester.  The  distance  from  Mr.  Caldwell's  house  to 
Ridley  is  between  three  and  four  miles,  and  to  Middletown  it  is 
between  four  and  five  miles.  Weather  never  kept  Dr.  Dale  from 
meeting  his  appointments.  Through  scorching  sun,  drizzling 
rains,  drifting  snows  and  driving  storms,  sometimes  on  foot, 
and  often  on  horseback,  he  found  his  way  to  the  place  of  meeting 
when  even  the  sexton  had  not  thought  it  worth  while  to  open 
the  church  doors.  It  was  his  custom  from  the  beginning  of  his 
ministry — a  custom  which  he  continued  until  almost  the  end  of 
his  life — to  preach  at  least  three  times  on  the  Sabbath  and  fre- 
quently during  the  week.  In  his  early  ministry,  he  was  not  satis- 
fied with  merely  preaching  in  the  pulpit  to  those  whom  it  might 
please  to  come  and  hear  him,  but,  going  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
church  building,  his  voice  was  heard  in  school  houses  and  in  pri- 
vate dwellings  all  over  the  county,  wherever  he  could  get  a  place 
in  which  to  speak  and  even  a  few  to  listen.  He  was  constantly 
on  the  lookout  for  promising  points  of  interest  where  people 


47 

could  be  gathered  together  and  where  preaching  stations  could 
be  established. 

Among  the  first  visible  results  of  his  aggressive  labors  in 
this  direction  was  the  organization  of  the  Crookville  church. 
It  is  now  called  Todmorden.  A  handsome  church  building  was 
here  erected,  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  William  T.  Crook,  who  was 
then  the  owner  of  the  works  at  that  place.  Mr.  Crook  was  a  great 
admirer  of  his  pastor  from  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  to  the 
end  of  his  life.  It  was  his  appreciation  of  the  zealous  labors  of 
Dr.  Dale  among  those  to  whom  Mr.  Crook  gave  employment,  that 
induced  him  to  erect  this  sanctuary,  that  he  might  thereby  provide 
a  place  of  worship  for  his  employes  and  strengthen  the  hands 
and  encourage  the  heart  of  his  devoted  pastor.  Unfortunately, 
this  valuable  property  was  never  deeded  to  a  Board  of  Trustees, 
and,  in  the  changes  of  business  and  of  fortune,  it  passed  out  of 
the  denomination  for  whose  use  it  was  erected  and  fell  into 
the  hands  of  owners  who  used  it,  for  a  time,  as  a  store  house.  It 
has,  however,  been  again  restored  to  its  proper  purpose  as  a  house 
for  the  service  of  God,  and  is  occupied  by  worshippers  of  a  differ- 
ent denomination. 

Cheater  and  its  ChurcheB. 

Chester  was  one  of  Dr.  Dale's  most  important  preaching  points. 
He  saw  that  there  was  a  great  commercial  future  before  that  (then) 
small  village  and  so  gave  much  time  to  the  development  of  its 
religious  interests.  The  seed  which  he  sowed  took  root  and  its 
fruit  was  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  that  now  flourishing 


48 

city.  This  church  was  organized  in  1852.  It  gradually  gathered 
sufficient  strength  to  support,  with  the  aid  of  the  Board  of 
Domestic  Missions,  a  pastor  of  its  own,  which  Dr.  Dale  secured 
for  the  congregation  that  he  might  be  free  to  go  and  hreak 
ground  elsewhere.  As  the  city  grew  in  population,  the  church 
increased  numerically  and  financially.  Being  itself  the  result  of 
the  missionary  spirit  and  labors  of  its  founder,  as  the  city  grew, 
the  people  of  this  church  began  to  do  for  other  parts  of  it  what  had 
been  done  for  them.  Under  the  guidance  of  its  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Alexander  "W.  Sproull,  a  few  of  its  members  organized  a  Sabbath 
school  in  the  South  "Ward,  which  so  prospered  as  to  make  a  demand 
for  a  building  of  its  own  and  for  the  organization  of  a  church. 
Accordingly,  in  1866,  "The  Chester  City  Presbyterian  Church " 
was  organized  by  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  Previous 
to  the  organization,  Mr.  Thomas  Reaney  erected,  at  his  own 
expense,  a  church  building,  complete  in  all  its  appointments  and 
ready  for  occupancy,  which  he  deeded  to  a  Board  of  Trustees  as 
a  gift  to  the  newly  organized  congregation. 

The  First  church  next  directed  its  energies  to  the  North  Ward 
of  the  city,  where  a  flourishing  Sabbath  school  was  soon  gathered 
and  a  suitable  building  erected  for  its  use.  In  October,  1872,  a 
church  was  organized  in  this  location,  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Chester,  with  fifty-one  members,  which  is  known  as  "The  Third 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Chester". 

Thus  there  are  now  in  the  city  of  Chester,  three  self-sustain- 
ing churches,  with  three  pastors,  on  the  ground  broken  for  Presby- 
terianism  by  Dr.  Dale,  and  on  foundations  that  were  laid  by  him. 


49 

The  value  of  the  property  owned  by  the  three  congregations 
amounts  to  about  fifty-two  thousand  dollars,  and  their  united 
contributions,  according  to  the  last  report  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, for  home  support  and  Christ's  cause  beyond  their  own  bounds, 
for  the  year  ending  April  1, 1882,  amounted  to  twelve  thousand 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  dollars.  A  movement  is  now  on  foot 
looking  toward  the  erection  and  organization  of  a  fourth  church, 
in  South  Chester. 

Labors  at  Media. — Secand  Fastaral  Charge. 

For  some  time  Media  had  been  looming  up  as  a  point  of  special 
interest.  It  had  become  the  county  seat  instead  of  Chester,  and 
was  showing  some  signs  of  prosperity  and  of  prospective  growth. 
Dr.  Dale  had  his  eye  upon  it  from  the  very  beginning  of  its  im- 
portance. While  he  continued  to  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  pro- 
gress of  the  work  at  Chester,  it  had  been  committed  to  other 
hands,  and  he  no  longer  felt  the  same  responsibility  for  its  success. 
And  now,  in  April,  1858,  he  resigned  the  charge  of  the  Ridley 
church,  after  having  been  its  faithful  and  devoted  pastor  for 
twenty-one  years.  It  was  about  this  time  also  that  he  removed 
the  place  of  his  residence  from  Crookville  to  Media,  so  that  he 
might  be  convenient  to  the  new  enterprise  on  which  his  atten- 
tion and  his  energy  had  for  some  time  been  directed. 

The  upbuilding  of  a  church  at  the  new  county  seat  was 
attended  with  many  difficulties  and  trials.  For  years  there 
were  but  few  signs  of  encouragement  and  little  or  nothing  to 
give  inspiration  to  hope.     A  less  hopeful  man  than  Dr.  Dale 


50 

would  have  given  up  such  an  undertaking  in  hopeless  despair. 
But  he  was  not  easily  discouraged.  Faith,  patience,  perseverance 
and  hope  were  leading  traits  of  his  character.  He  was  a  careful 
student  of  Divine  Providence  and  of  natural  science,  especially  of 
astronomy  and  geology.  From  his  knowledge  of  the  wondrous 
ways  and  works  of  God  he  learned  much  which  he  used  as  aids 
in  the  cultivation  and  development  of  his  own  character.  It 
was  for  this  purpose  that  he  familiarized  his  mind  with  the  mar- 
vellous facts  and  the  immense  figures  of  geology  and  astronomy. 
After  reading  his  printed  sermon,  "Time  and  its  Unfoldings",  a 
discourse  preached  on  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  pastoral 
relation,  and  noting  the  application  which  he  makes  of  the  facts 
and  figures  of  science,  no  one  will  be  surprised  to  find  him  a  man 
full  of  faith  and  of  hope,  doing  his  God-given  work  with  good 
cheer  and  patience,  trusting  in  the  Lord  and  leaving  all  the 
results  and  issues  of  his  labor  with  Him.  A  quotation  from  the 
sermon  itself  will  best  illustrate  this  thought: 

"Astronomers  tell  us  that  the  breadth  of  the  earth  is  not 
sufficient  as  a  base-line  wherewith  to  form  an  angle  with  the 
nearest  star,  that  thereby  we  may  measure  its  distance.  Such  a 
base-line  can  only  be  secured  by  waiting,  waiting  through  days, 
weeks,  months,  until  the  earth  shall  have  rolled  through  one-half 
her  orbit,  and  thus  furnish  a  base-line,  not  of  eight  thousand 
miles,  but  of  two  hundred  million  miles.  Such  a  base  gives  us  a 
measurable  star-angle,  and  yet  only  (so  vast  is  the  distance)  one 
which  is  of  seconds  in  extent.  If  we  would  reach  results  that 
are  grand  and  remote,  we  must  learn  to  wait." 

It  was  by  such  contemplations  as  these  that  he  learned  to 
wait,  to  wait  the  solution  of  many  a  perplexing  problem  in  his 


51 

life,  and  the  unfolding  of  God's  plans  and  purposes  respecting  his 
own  work.  Thus  it  was  that,  in  the  midst  of  many  discourage- 
ments, he  continued  to  preach  at  Media  with  an  eloquence  and 
a  power  that  astonished  strangers,  who  often  expressed  surprise 
that  a  man  of  such  rare  gifts  and  graces  should  be  permitted  to 
remain  in  a  place  of  such  comparative  obscurity.  He  paid  no 
heed  to  such  compliments  as  he  often  received  in  this  way,  but 
went  on  quietly  with  the  work,  which,  he  felt,  his  Master  had 
given  him  to  do.  In  every  discouragement,  faith  steadied  him ; 
hope  inspired  him.  Faith  was  at  the  foundation  of  every  new 
undertaking,  and  hope  reached  out  to  its  completion.  These  were 
the  piers  of  the  bridge  over  which  he  walked  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  all  that  he  undertook  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
good  of  his  fellowmen. 

With  much  prayer  and  planning,  he  secured  the  location  and 
style  of  the  Media  church  edifice.  The  corner  stone  was  laid 
July  4,  1854,  and  part  of  the  building  was  ready  for  use  in 
November,  1855.  With  the  solicitude  of  a  father  for  his  child,  he 
superintended  its  erection  and  watched  the  workmen  as  they  laid 
in  order  the  stones  and  the  timbers  of  this  new  sanctuary  for 
God's  worship.  He  gave  generously  of  his  own  inherited  means 
and,  by  his  personal  eftbrts  and  influence,  he  secured  subscriptions 
from  others  for  carrying  forward  the  enterprise.  For  a  number 
of  years  after  the  completion  of  the  building,  the  property  that 
he  possessed  was  kept  subject  to  a  mortgage  which  he  had  given 
as  security  for  money  that  had  been  l)orrowed  to  pay  in  full  the 
bills  of  the  contractors,  merchants,  mechanics  and  workmen  as 
they  came  due,  so  that  the  only  claims  against  the  property,  when 


52 

the  building  was  finished,  were  held  by  Dr.  Dale  and  his  well 
tried,  steadfast  and  life-long  friend,  Mr.  John  C.  Beatty. 

It  was  a  glad  day  for  Dr.  Dale  when  he  saw  the  substantial 
church  edifice  in  which  the  congregation  of  the  Media  Presbyterian 
Church  now  worship  completed  from  the  foundation  stone  to  the 
large  gilded  hand  which  once  adorned  the  steeple,  with  its  finger,  as 
he  used  to  say,  "Pointing  to  the  skies  and  to  God,  to  remind  all 
who  look  upon  it  that  God  alone  is  the  true  object  of  the  adoration 
and  worship  of  all  men,  and  to  lift  the  thoughts  of  the  passer  by 
to  him  who  gives  to  us  every  good  and  every  perfect  gift."  As 
yet  there  was  no  church  organization  and  the  congregations  were 
very  small,  while  the  audience  room  was  comparatively  large. 
That  the  house  was  built  in  accordance  with  the  hopes  of  its  pro- 
jector for  the  future  growth  of  the  congregation,  rather  than  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  feeble  fiock  then  gathered,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  on  the  Sabbath  after  it  was  opened  for  religious 
services  only  fourteen  persons  met  for  public  worship.  After 
years  of  the  most  laborious  toil,  a  self-denial,  and,  indeed,  priva- 
tion, on  the  part  of  Dr.  Dale,  which  were  known  only  to  his  fam- 
ily and  himself,  the  church  was  regularly  organized  with  forty-six 
members,  and  he  was  unanimously  called,  October  26, 1866,  to  be 
its  pastor,  at  a  salary  of  one  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  He  was, 
at  the  same  time,  formally  installed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia. He  now  decided,  the  Lord  willing,  to  make  Media  his 
home  for  life  and  the  upbuilding  of  its  Presbyterian  church  his 
chief  pastoral  work. 


53 
MiddletDwn  and  Media  Fastarate  Clased. 

In  less  than  five  years  after  his  installation,  at  Media,  and 
while  he  was  busy  with  the  work  which  he  had  there  laid  out 
for  himself  to  do,  there  came,  unexpectedly  to  him,  a  call  from 
the  Wayne  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was,  at  first,  reluctant  to 
give  any  encouragement  to  those  who  presented  this  call.  He 
preferred  to  remain  where  he  was.  But  so  earnestly  were  the 
claims  of  this  call  pressed  upon  him  that,  after  a  full  and  prayer- 
ful consideration  of  all  the  interests  involved,  he  felt  that  the  call 
from  "Wayne  church  was  from  God,  and  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
accept  it.  His  pastoral  relation  to  the  Middletown  church  had 
continued  from  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  in  Delaware  County 
until  the  present  time,  and  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  think  of  sev- 
ering a  relation  that  had  existed  so  pleasantly  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  The  Media  church  was  also  very  dear  to 
him,  because  he  had  toiled  and  suffered  to  bring  it  to  the  point 
at  which  he  was  now  to  leave  it.  Many  and  strong  were  the  ties 
that  bound  this  pastor  and  people  to  each  other.  He  had  been  in 
their  family  and  social  circles  as  a  sharer  in  their  festivities  and 
enjoyments;  he  had  knelt  with  them  around  their  domestic  altars, 
and  had  commended  them  and  their  little  ones  to  the  Father  of 
all ;  he  had  married  the  fathers  and  mothers,  and  he  had  baptized 
their  children;  they  had  been  together  at  the  marriage  feast,  in 
the  chamber  of  sickness,  and  by  the  open  grave.  He  had  been  their 
guide  and  counsellor  in  the  perplexities  of  life;  he  had  sympa- 
thized with  them  and  comforted  them  in  their  sorrows.     He  was 


54 

as  a  father  to  the  children,  and  to  the  young  men  and  maidens ; 
he  was  as  a  brother  to  their  parents.  It  was  hard  for  him  to  say 
to  such  a  people  that  the  ties  by  which  they  had  been  so  long 
and  so  tenderly  bound  must  be  cut,  and  it  was  hard  for  them  to 
give  their  consent  to  the  dissolution  of  the  relation  that  existed 
between  them. 

A  special  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Chester  was  con- 
vened August  3, 1871,  to  consider  and  issue  the  case.  All  of  the 
churches  concerned  were  within  the  bounds  of  that  Presbytery. 
Each  of  the  churches  was  represented  by  Commissioners.  Dr. 
Dale  told  how  the  call  had  come  to  him,  and  how  his  own  mind 
was  impressed  by  it.  He  stated  that,  in  his  judgment,  it  was 
hm  duty  to  go  to  Wayne,  and  requested  with  much  emotion  that 
his  present  pastoral  relations  be  now  dissolved,  and  that  arrange- 
ments be  made  for  his  installation  as  pastor  of  the  Wayne  church. 
Mr.  Henry  B.  Black,  who  was  one  of  Dr.  Dale's  spiritual  children, 
as  well  as  a  warm  friend  and  generous  supporter  of  his  pastor, 
spoke  for  the  commissioners  of  Middletown  and  Media  and  the 
congregations  which  they  represented.  He  stated  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Middletown  and  Media  churches  had  reluctantly  agreed 
to  unite  with  their  pastor  in  his  request  now  before  the  Presby- 
tery, provided  it  is  evident  to  them  that  an  adequate  and  guar- 
anteed salary  is  embodied  in  the  call  from  the  congregation  of  the 
Wayne  church,  exceeding  the  salary  paid  to  him  by  his  present 
charges.  It  was  stated  by  Mr.  Black  that  the  congregations 
which  they  represented  felt  that  the  talents  of  Dr.  Dale  could  and 
should  command  a  far  higher  salary  than  they  were  able  to  pay, 
and  that  they  were  willing  to  deny  themselves  of  all  that  Dr. 


55 

Dale  was  to  them  as  a  pastor,  only  on  the  ground  that,  at  "Wayne, 
he  would  receive  a  larger  temporal  support,  and  thus  be  freer  to 
devote  himself  more  exclusively  to  his  chosen  lines  of  study. 
The  Wayne  commissioners  promptly  gave  the  assurance  asked 
for  by  the  commissioners  on  the  other  side.  It  should  be  dis- 
tinctly noted  that  Dr.  Dale  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
question  raised  in  regard  to  his  salary.  He  had  already  settled  the 
question  of  duty,  irrespective  of  all  financial  considerations.  He 
was  far  from  what  would  be  called  "a  worldly-wise  man".  The 
compensation  of  dollars  for  his  services  was  a  matter  that  gave 
him,  perhaps,  too  little  trouble.  How  to  be  most  useful  to  his 
fellow-men,  and  how  best  to  promote  the  glory  of  God,  were  ever 
the  ruling  thoughts  of  his  life.  iN'one  knew  these  things  better 
than  the  people  of  Middletown  and  Media,  whose  servant  he 
had  been,  during  so  many  years,  for  Jesus'  sake ;  and  hence  their 
desire  to  make  sure  of  a  competent  temporal  support  for  him, 
which  the  people  of  Wayne  were  just  as  ready  to  promise  as  they 
were  to  ask. 

All  the  parties  having  been  heard,  the  Presbytery  dissolved 
the  pastoral  relation  existing  between  Dr.  Dale  and  the  Middle- 
town  and  Media  churches.  Thus  closed  a  pastorate  which  was 
full  of  faithful  service,  rich  in  the  advancement  of  Presbyterian- 
ism,  the  best  and  highest  interests  of  mankind,  and  the  progress 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

Another  quotation  from  the  Twenty -fifth  Anniversary  Ser. 
mon  of  Dr.  Dale,  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  will 
show,  as  some  of  the  ripened  fruits  of  his  self-denying  labors,  the 


56 

onward  march  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  during  the  twenty -five 
years  of  his  ministry: 

"Twenty-five  years  ago,  there  were  (in  Delaware  County) 
seven  Methodist  Episcopal  churches,  now  there  are  eleven;  Jive 
Protestant  Episcopal  churches,  and  now  eight;  three  Baptist 
churches,  and  now  five;  one  Roman  Catholic,  and  now  four; 
none  colored,  and  now  two;  four  Presbyterian,  and  now  ten;  sixteen 
Friends,  and  now  the  same  number,  sixteen.  Since  1845  the 
evangelical  churches  have  doubled  their  numbers,  keeping  pace 
with  the  population,  which  has  also  doubled.  Within  this  pas- 
toral charge  where  there  were  two  churches,  there  are  now  five, 
besides  one  regular  preaching-place  (Glen  Riddle),  where  we  hope 
that  a  church  edifice  may  before  long  be  erected  and  a  church 
organized.  *  *  *  There  is  not  a  pastor  of  any  denomination 
in  Delaware  County,  who  retains  the  pastoral  charge  which  he 
had  at  the  commencement  of  this  quarter  of  a  century  but  my- 
self; and  in  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  with  which  this 
pastoral  charge  has  been  connected  through  all  that  period, 
there  is  but  one  pastor,  the  Rev.  Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.D., 
who  retains  the  charge  which  he  held  at  the  beginning  of  this 
period." 

Third  Pastnral  Charge— Wayne. 

"Wayne  is  on  the  main  line  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, 
about  fourteen  miles  from  Philadelphia.  Its  residents  are  mostly 
the  families  of  men  whose  business  is  in  Philadelphia,  and  who 
travel  daily  between  their  homes  and  the  city.  From  a  brief 
Historical  Sketch  of  the  Wayne  Presbyterian  Church,  prepared 
by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  we  learn  that  the  pretty  church  edi- 
fice, not  far  from  the  Wayne  Station,  "  with  the  lot  of  ground 


57 

upon  which  it  is  erected,  also  the  parsonage,  with  the  lot  of 
ground  attached  thereto,  was  the  gift  of  J.  Henry  Askin,  Esq., 
under  whose  personal  direction  the  building  was  commenced  and 
completed."  The  real  estate  thus  presented  was  valued  at  about 
twenty  thousand  dollars.  This  church  being  in  Delaware  County, 
within  the  limits  of  which  Dr.  Dale's  entire  pastoral  life  had 
been  spent,  and  also  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  to 
which  he  already  belonged,  it  was  easier  for  him,  if  he  changed 
at  all,  to  accept  such  a  pastorate  as  this,  than  to  move  to  some 
more  distant  point. 

From  the  moment  that  the  pulpit  of  the  "Wayne  church  be- 
came vacant,  in  April,  1871,  the  officers  of  the  church  felt  that 
the  coming  pastor  must  be  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  spiritu- 
ality and  intellectual  ability,  that  he  must  be  a  man  of  unusual 
wisdom  and  prudence.  Mr.  Howell  Evans,  who  had  been  with 
the  church  from  its  beginning,  and  who  had  taken  a  deep  inter- 
est in  all  that  pertained  to  its  organization  and  growth,  suggested 
the  name  of  Dr.  Dale.  He  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  congregation. 
He  had  been  in  the  county  for  five  and  twenty  years,  and  had 
made  himself  a  power  for  good.  He  had  an  established  character 
and  reputation,  and  it  was  felt  that  he  would  at  once  command 
the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  community.  He  had,  also,  been 
with  the  people  of  Wayne  church  at  almost  every  important  step 
in  their  history.  In  quietly  canvassing  these  matters,  the  officers 
and  the  most  influential  members  of  the  congregation  cordially 
agreed  with  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Evans,  and  united  in  the  con- 
viction that  Dr.  Dale  had  all  the  essential  qualities  for  which 
they  were  looking.     The  only  question  was,  Would  he  come? 


58 

This  question,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  settled  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  the  parties  concerned.  A  formal  call  was  extended 
to  him,  June  19, 1871 ;  and  his  installation  took  place,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Preshytery  of  Chester,  September  28, 1871.  He 
was  most  kindly  and  cordially  received  by  the  people,  and  began 
his  ministry  with  great  promise  of  usefulness  and  success.  On 
the  Sabbath  following  his  installation,  he  preached  a  sermon  on 
"  The  Earliest  Settlement  by  Presbyterians  on  the  Delaware  River 
and  in  Delaware  County,"  from  Psalm  60:  4:  "Thou  hast  given 
a  banner  to  them  that  fear  Thee,  that  it  may  be  displayed  because 
of  the  truth;"  also.  Psalm  20:  5:  "In  the  name  of  our  God  will 
we  set  up  our  banner."  The  sermon  gives  a  concise  presentation 
of  the  establishment  of  Presbyterianism  in  the  region  of  the 
church,  and  of  the  distinctive  principles  of  Presbyterianism, 
The  policy  of  his  ministry,  as  pastor  of  the  Wayne  church,  is 
set  forth  under  the  last  division  of  the  sermon ;  and  this  shows 
not  only  his  attachment  to  his  own  denomination,  which  he  loved 
so  well,  but  also  the  largeness  of  heart  of  a  true  Presbyterian, 
and  his  readiness  to  extend  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  all  who 
love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  and  in  truth.  It  is  as 
follows: 

"The  true  end  for  which  every  church  banner  should  be  dis- 
played is  to  maintain  God's  truth,  and  to  promote  God's  glory. 
*  *  ^  To  be  governed  by  such  an  end  will  wither  to  the  roots 
all  unholy  rivalry  and  jealousy  among  Christians.  A  single  love 
to  God  will  beget  unfeigned  love  to  all  who  'fear  Him.'  The 
history  of  the  Presbyterian  church  for  long  centuries  shows  a 
deep  love  and  an  earnest  advocacy  for  the  truth  of  God.     We 


59 

would  have  the  history  of  "Wayne  church  to  show  as  clearly  that 
the  truth  is  no  less  loved  by  its  pastor  and  people.  May  we  hold 
the  truth  in  love — in  love  to  God,  that  He  may  be  honored  by  it ; 
in  love  to  His  people  of  every  name,  that  its  power  may  be  dis- 
played in  making  them  one  in  Christ;  in  love  to  God's  enemies, 
that  they  may  be  blest  through  it  by  Him  who  'so  loved  the 
world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for  it.'  In  this 
spirit  we  will  welcome  to  this  pulpit,  on  all  suitable  occasions, 
the  minister  of  the  Gospel,  though  he  may  not  bear  the  Presby- 
terian banner,  if  he  shall  have  received  a  banner  from  our  com- 
mon Lord.  And  when  that  holy  service  which  commemorates 
the  dying  love  of  our  Divine  Redeemer  shall  here  be  celebrated, 
we  will  welcome  to  its  observance  not  merely  those  who  gather  be- 
neath the  Presbyterian  banner,  but  no  less,  all  those  of  every  name 
who  call  Jesus  Lord,  and  do,  with  a  penitent  heart  and  a  believ- 
ing soul,  rest  upon  Him  as  their  Saviour  and  ours.  Then  shall 
we  feel  assured  that  He  who  has  given  to  His  people  a  banner  of 
truth  to  display,  will  throw  over  us  also  His  banner  which  is  love." 

Owing  to  the  ill  health  of  his  wife,  who  had  been  an  invalid 
for  a  number  of  years.  Dr.  Dale  did  not  occupy  the  Wayne  parson- 
age, but  continued  to  live  at  Media.  He  went  to  Wayne  on 
Saturdays,  and  often  in  the  middle  of  the  week.  The  want  of  a 
home  of  his  own  at  Wayne,  was  largely  compeusated  for  by  the 
kind  hospitality  which  was  most  generously  and  cordially  ex- 
tended to  him  by  the  families  of  Messrs.  Charles  Eldredge, 
Howell  Evans  and  J.  Henry  Askin.  He  usually  stayed  with  the 
family  of  Mr.  Askin,  from  Saturday  until  Monday.  Everything 
was  done  by  this  family  to  meet  his  wants  and  to  make  him 
comfortable.  They  regard  it  as  a  precious  privilege  to  have  been 
permitted  to  entertain  him  so  often.     His  coming  to  them  from 


60 

week  to  week  was  looked  forward  to  with  much  interest,  and, 
now  that  he  is  gone  and  comes  no  more,  his  presence,  so  fre- 
quently in  their  home,  is  cherished  among  the  sweetest  memories 
of  the  household. 

For  nearly  five  years  his  pastorate  continued  in  this  way. 
There  was  nothing  remarkable  about  it.  By  his  interest  in  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  of  his  people  and  by  his  sympathy 
with  them  in  their  afilictions  and  sorrows,  he  endeared  himself 
to  them  as  a  worthy  pastor  and  a  faithful  friend.  Forty-eight 
persons  were  added  to  the  membership  of  the  little  church ;  and 
in  various  directions  that  indicate  prosperity  and  give  good  cheer 
to  a  working  pastor  and  people,  there  were  many  encouraging 
tokens  of  the  Divine  favor,  which  gladdened  the  hearts  of  all 
who  felt  an  interest  in  the  success  and  permanent  growth  of  this 
young  enterprise. 

Last  Pastorate  Ended. 

Early  in  the  Summer  of  1876,  in  the  midst  of  his  work,  with 
many  plans  in  his  mind  that  reached  into  the  future,  he  was  sud- 
denly stricken  down  with  a  disease  from  which  he  never  fully 
recovered.  The  best  medical  skill  was  consulted,  and  his  phy- 
sicians said  that  he  was  threatened  with  softening  of  the  brain. 
All  agreed  that  mind  and  body  had  been  overtaxed,  and  that  he 
must  take  a  rest  from  all  ministerial  and  mental  labor  in  order  to 
recuperate  nature's  wasted  energies.  When  he  recovered,  as  he 
thought,  from  the  first  attack,  he  declared  himself  as  well  as 
ever  he  was  in  his  life.     To  gratify  his  physicians  and  friends, 


61 

however,  he  consented  to  take  a  season  of  rest — the  first  that  he 
had  ever  taken  in  all  his  ministry.  During  this  time  the  writer 
met  him  at  Saratoga  Springs,  on  his  way  to  Clifton  Springs,  and 
being  asked  about  his  health,  he  replied:  "I  feel  as  strong  and 
almost  as  well  as  I  ever  did  in  all  my  life.  I  see  no  reason  why  I 
should  not  engage  in  my  accustomed  work.  I  have  only  laid  it 
aside  in  deference  to  the  advice  of  physicians  and  the  wish  of  my 
family  and  friends."  After  being  aljsent  from  home  for  more 
than  three  months,  a  good  part  of  the  time  having  been  spent  at 
Clifton  Springs,  N".  Y.,  he  returned  with  the  intention  of  resum- 
ing the  accustomed  routine  of  his  life,  but  his  physicians  gave 
him  no  encouragement  in  carrying  out  his  plans.  They  rather 
positively  assured  him  that  the  continuance  of  his  life  depended 
upon  the  continuance  of  rest  for  a  longer  period,  and  earnestly 
urged  him  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
free  from  all  responsibility  and  anxiety  in  regard  to  the  affairs  of 
a  church.  With  his  accustomed  submission  to  the  orderings  of 
Divine  Providence,  he  said  to  God,  with  a  child's  confidence  in 
an  affectionate  father,  "Thy  will  be  done." 

Dr.  Dale  made  a  statement  of  his  case  to  his  congregation; 
told  the  people  of  his  intention  to  resign  his  charge,  and  to  ask 
the  Presbytery  to  dissolve  the  pastoral  relation  existing  between 
them;  and  asked  them  to  unite  with  him  in  this  request.  Under 
the  circumstances,  there  was  nothing  left  for  the  congregation  to 
do  but  to  acquiesce  in  the  wish  of  their  pastor.  Mr.  Howell 
Evans,  who  has  known  Dr.  Dale  during  all  of  his  ministry,  who 
has  been  an  elder  of  the  Wayne  church  from  its  organization 


62 

until  the  present  time,  an  admirer  and  personal  friend  of  its  pas- 
tor, who,  as  an  officer  of  the  church,  was  brought  into  close  and 
intimate  relations  with  him,  which  were  pleasant  and  congenial 
to  them  both,  and  who  was  also  familiar  with  the  mind  of  the 
congregation,  thus  writes  of  him,  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  he 
was  held  by  the  people  of  "Wayne,  and  of  the  feelings  with  which 
they  accepted  his  resignation: 

"It  was  with  unfeigned  regret  that  the  congregation  of  Wayne 
church  acquiesced  in  the  request  of  Dr.  Dale  for  the  dissolution 
of  the  pastoral  relation  which  had  existed  so  pleasantly  and  har- 
moniously between  the  people  of  Wayne  and  their  pastor.  His 
Christian  character  and  gentlemanly  demeanor,  his  great  learn- 
ing and  deep  piety,  his  manifest  unselfishness  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  and  his  untiring  efforts  to  win  souls  to  the  Redeemer, 
united  with  his  great  earnestness,  made  him  a  power  for  good  in 
the  pulpit,  and  endeared  him  to  the  people  of  his  charge.  The 
Lord  greatly  blessed  his  ministry  amongst  us,  and  made  him  an 
honored  servant  of  Jesus  Christ  in  winning  souls  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  and  in  the  upbuilding  of  God's  people  in  their  spirit- 
ual life. 

"Failing  health  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  relinquish  the 
charge  of  our  congregation.  His  ministry  will  ever  be  held  in 
the  tenderest  remembrance  by  all  who  were  privileged  to  attend 
upon  it.  The  eloquence  and  the  spirituality  of  his  preaching  left 
an  impression  upon  his  hearers  which,  we  are  sure,  can  never  be 
forgotten.  The  condition  of  the  impenitent  seemed  to  rest  as  a 
burden  upon  him,  and  his  earnest  pleadings  with  them  to  be 
reconciled  to  God,  seemed  to  spring  from  the  very  depths  of  his 
soul,  as  he,  with  tears,  pointed  them  to  Christ,  'the  Lamb  of 
God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.'  Christ  was 
ever  the  burden  of  his  preaching.    His  constant  theme  was  Christ, 


63 

'able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost;'  Christ  waiting  to  receive  all 
who  look  to  Him  for  salvation,  and  Christ  able  and  willing  to 
sustain  all  who  put  their  trust  in  Him.  He  has  now  entered 
upon  his  rest  and  reward.  Sweet  to  us  is  the  memory  of  the  re- 
lation that  we  sustained  to  each  other  for  nearly  live  years.  En- 
couraged by  his  teachings,  we  cherish  the  hope  that,  when  our 
appointed  time  comes,  we  shall  meet,  no  more  to  part,  in  the 
'Father's  house'  with  its  'many  mansions.'" 

The  matter  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Presbytery, 
by  a  statement  from  Dr.  Dale  similar  to  that  which  he  had  made 
to  his  congregation,  and  a  request  that  the  pastoral  relation  ex- 
isting between  him  and  the  Wayne  church  be  dissolved.  The 
commissioners  from  the  church  stated  that  it  was  with  much  re- 
gret the  congregation  had  agreed  to  unite  with  their  pastor  in  his 
request.  In  a  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  the  Presbytery  gave 
expression  to  the  deep  regret  with  which  its  members  liad  heard 
the  circumstances  which  demanded  the  step  that  they  were  called 
upon  to  take,  and  to  their  sympathy  with  Dr.  Dale  in  his  aftlic- 
tion.  The  pastoral  relation  that  had  existed  between  Dr.  Dale 
and  the  Wayne  church,  since  September  28, 1871,  was  then,  on 
October  23, 1876,  dissolved. 

Thus  ended  his  third  and  last  pastoral  charge.  He  was  now 
free  from  all  the  care  and  responsibility  of  a  church,  but  it  was  by- 
no  means  a  freedom  that  he  enjoyed.  So  much  did  he  love  and 
desire  to  preach  that  there  were  times  when  he  was  like  a  caged 
lion,  and  notwithstanding  the  silence  that  was  imposed  uj^on  him, 
the  barriers  that  were  thrown  around  him  by  the  counsels  and 
cautions   of  jihysicians   and   the   entreaties  and   persuasions   of 


64 

friends,  there  were  times  when  he  did  preach  in  spite  of  every 
thing.  He  was  now  at  liberty  to  seek  the  restoration  of  his  health, 
which  he  did  by  travel  and  by  a  strange  kind  of  rest  from  much 
study.  "While  he  is  thus  engaged,  as  we  have  seen  something  of  his 
labor  and  its  results,  let  us  look  more  particularly  at  the  man 
himself,  in  some  other  aspects  of  his  work  and  character. 

As  a  Freacher. 


Dr.  Dale  was  a  grand  preacher.  I  shall  never  forget  the  first 
time  that  I  heard  him  preach.  It  was  at  the  Spring  communion 
in  the  Middletown  church,  on  a  beautiful  Sabbath  in  the  month 
of  May.  Dr.  Dale  was  then  in  the  noon-day  of  his  strength  and 
power  as  a  preacher.  The  texts  from  which  he  preached  that 
morning  were.  Job  9:  33 — "Neither  is  there  any  daysman  betwixt 
us;"  and  Job  33:  24 — "Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit; 
I  have  found  a  ransom."  This  was  the  first  time  that  I  had  ever 
seen  Dr.  Dale.  I  was  at  once  imj^ressed  with  his  dignified  bear- 
ing, his  solemn  manner,  and  his  intense  earnestness.  The  sermon 
that  followed  the  announcement  of  the  text  was,  up  to  that  period 
of  my  life,  the  grandest  and  most  impressive  to  which  I  had  ever 
listened.  The  sentences  of  the  preacher  were  as  clear  as  crystal, 
and  his  very  words  seemed  to  breathe  the  breath  of  life.  With 
an  eloquence  that  stirred  the  souls  of  his  hearers  to  their  pro- 
foundest  depths,  he  pictured  man  in  his  utterly  ruined,  hopeless 
and  eternally  lost  condition,  until  I  could  not  see  how  the  impeni- 
tent could  fail  to  feel  deeply  their  wretched,  helpless,  hopeless 
state.     On  the  other  hand,  he  presented  the  adaptation  and  free- 


65 

iiess  of  the  Divine  remedy  for  sin.  Pointing  to  the  emblems  of  a 
Saviour's  broken  l)0(ly  and  shed  blood,  he  set  Christ  before  his 
hearers,  in  all  the  blessed  fullness  of  His  atoning  work,  as  the 
miglity  Redeemer  of  mankind;  the  sinner's  only  ransom  from 
the  power  and  dominion  of  sin  and  its  everlasting  consequences ; 
the  believer's  only  hope  of  eternal  life.  Never  before  had  I  so 
felt  the  conscious  tlirol)bings  of  Christ's  presence,  Christ's  compas- 
sionate tenderness,  Christ's  bomidless  love.  Conscious  of  my  own 
emotions,  I  ventured  to  glance,  for  a  moment,  from  the  preacher 
to  the  people,  to  see  the  effect  on  others.  All  appeared  spell-bound. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  there  were  tears  in  almost  every  eye.  Young 
men  and  maidens,  in  the  strength  and  pride  of  their  manhood  and 
womanhood,  as  well  as  older  men  and  matrons,  were  weeping  like 
little  children.  When  he  came  to  the  administration  of  the  Sacra- 
ment, the  very  elements  seemed  to  glow  with  the  life  of  heaven. 
The  whole  service  was  one  of  the  most  sweetly  solemn  and  tenderly 
impressive  communion  seasons  that  I  had  ever  attended  in  all  my 
life.  Since  then  four  and  twenty  years  have  come  and  gone,  but 
the  appearance  of  the  preacher  and  the  impressive  solemnity  of 
that  hour  are  as  fresh  in  my  memory  as  though  they  were  the 
experiences  of  yesterday.  I  felt  grateful  that  it  was  to  be  my 
privilege  to  sit,  for  at  least  two  years,  under  such  an  edifying,  a 
powerful  and  profitable  ministry.  On  that  day  I  set  Dr.  Dale 
down  as  prince  among  preachers,  and,  though  I  have  since  heard 
most  of  the  great  preachers  of  the  country,  I  have  never  had  any 
reason  to  change  my  first  impression.  Often  since  then,  I  have 
heard  him  preach  with  an  eloquence  that  I  have  seldom,  if  ever, 
heard  equalled. 


66 

In  the  Spring  of  1862,  he  was  nominated  to  preach  the  annual 
sermon  before  the  Brainerd  Evangelical  Society  of  Lafayette  Col- 
lege. It  was  customary  to  seek  the  services  of  some  prominent, 
widely  known  preacher  for  this  occasion.  So  little  was  Dr.  Dale 
then  known  outside  of  the  community  in  which  he  dwelt,  that, 
before  his  election,  the  question  was  asked,  "Who  is  this  Mr.  Dale?" 
(He  was  not  then  known  as  Dr.  Dale.)  Assurances  having  been 
given  that  he  was  thoroughly  competent  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  day,  he  was  chosen,  and  at  the  Commencement  in  June, 
performed  the  duty  assigned  to  him.  As  was  often  his  custom, 
he  announced  two  passages  of  Scripture  as  his  text — Luke  2 :  49 — 
"Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?"  and 
John  12:  28 — "Father,  glorify  Thy  name."  Uniting  the  thoughts 
of  these  two  texts,  he  announced  as  his  theme,  "Our  Father's  busi- 
ness for  our  Father's  glory."  The  matter  of  the  sermon  and  the 
manner  of  the  preacher  were  as  appropriate  to  the  time  and  place 
as  it  was  possible  to  make  them.  His  words  were  all  aglow  with 
that  intense  earnestness  which  is  the  soul  of  eloquence;  and  he 
held  the  intense  interest  of  his  hearers  from  the  beginning  to  the 
close.  The  large  First  Church  was  filled  with  the  most  cultured 
people  of  Easton.  There  was  every  thing  in  the  surroundings  to 
inspire  any  preacher,  and  Dr.  Dale  rose  grandly  to  the  splendid 
height  of  his  magnificent  opportunity.  The  writer  was  heartily 
thanked  by  students  and  others  for  having  brought  such  a  preacher 
before  the  Society  and  for  having  given  to  them  such  a  pleasant 
and  profitable  treat.  No  one  now  asked,  "Who  is  Mr.  Dale?"  All 
who  heard  him  were  enthusiastic  in  his  praise.  A  special  meeting 
of  the  Society  was  convened  to  pass  a  vote  of  thanks  to  him  and 


67 

to  ask  from  him  a  copy  of  the  sermon  for  publication.  In  their 
request  for  the  sermon,  the  Committee  expressed  the  mind  of  the 
Society  when  they  wrote  to  him : 

"The  simplicity  and  inexpressible  beauty  of  the  theme, — a 
theme  so  pregnant  with  important  thought — as  well  as  its  able 
development,  have  induced  the  Society  to  solicit  a  copy  for  publi- 
cation, in  order  that  the  great  subject — ^^Our  Father's  business  for 
our  Father's  glory" — which  you  so  earnestly  presented  for  our 
consideration,  may  be  permanently  kept  before  our  minds  as  the 
governing  principle  of  our  lives,  leading  us  ever  to  make  our  busi- 
ness God's  business,  for  God's  glory." 

After  Dr.  Dale  had  preached  the  sermon  before  the  Brainerd 
Society,  there  were  many  who  asked,  ""Why  is  it  that  such  a  man  is 
not  better  known?"  "Why  is  it  that  such  a  preacher  does  not  fill 
a  more  prominent  pulpit  ?"  Such  questions  were  often  asked  by 
those  who  did  not  know  the  spirit  of  the  man.  In  answer  to  all 
such  inquiries,  it  may  be  said,  that  Dr.  Dale  never  sought  a  promi- 
nent place  for  himself;  he  never  asked  his  friends  to  intercede  for 
him  with  tliis  church  and  that;  he  never  used  his  own  influence 
or  sought  that  of  his  brethren  and  friends  to  get  a  hearing  in  a 
vacant  pulpit.  His  name  was  seldom  found  on  the  list  of  the 
seventy-five  or  one  hundred  candidates  which  may  be  found  in 
the  hands  of  the  Session  of  almost  any  ordinary  vacant  church. 
He  acted  on  the  principle  that  God  knew  him,  and  where  and 
how  he  could  best  serve  Him;  that  God  knew  all  the  vacant 
churches  and  their  needs,  and,  if  He  thought  best,  could  put  him 
in  any  church  in  all  the  land.  Moreover,  he  made  the  mistake  of 
preaching  too  long  for  the  modern  congregation.     He  devoted 


68- 

considerable  time  to  the  profitable  exposition  of  the  Scripture 
lessons  which  he  read,  and  thus  prolonged  the  services  far  beyond 
the  average  length.  He  had  to  be  heard  oftener  than  once  to  be 
appreciated.  Without  his  own  intervention,  he  was  several  times 
sought  out  and  consulted  by  the  officials  of  influential  vacant 
churches  with  a  view  to  becoming  their  pastor,  but  so  well  satis- 
fied was  he  with  the  work  in  which  he  was  engaged,  that  he  gave 
little  or  no  encouragement  to  any  movement  that  looked  toward 
his  removal  from  Delaware  county.  He  went  there  with  no  other 
thought  than  that  it  was  to  be  the  field  of  his  life's  work.  As  the 
years  went  on,  the  roots  of  his  influence  went  down  deep  and  broad 
throughout  the  community  and  sent  out  their  branches  in  various 
directions.  He  became  immersed  in  studies  which  he  could  pursue 
with  far  more  satisfaction  and  success  in  the  retirement  of  his 
rural  parish  than  in  some  conspicuous  city  church,  which  his 
friends  considered  him  unusually  well  qualified  to  fill,  and  in  which 
they  would  have  been  glad  to  see  him  placed.  God  had  given 
to  him  a  work,  which  was  quite  congenial  to  his  taste,  and,  evi- 
dently, God  kept  him  where  it  could  be  best  accomplished.  Then 
the  motto  of  his  life  was  that  which  he  presented  to  the  young 
men  of  Lafayette  College — "Our  Father's  business  for  our  Father's 
glory."  I  know  of  no  sentiment  which  more  clearly  and  thor- 
oughly expressed  the  aim  and  end  of  his  own  unselfish  being.  I 
listened  to  the  sermon  when  he  preached  it,  and  I  have  read  it  since 
in  the  light  of  what  I  knew  of  him  and  applied  much  of  it  to 
himself.  Here  was^his  idea  of  one's  position  in  life,  as  he  gave  it 
in  that  sermon: 


69 

"As  engaged  in  'our  Fathcr'H  business,'  there  is  no  position 
which  is  low,  no  duty  which  is  ignoble,  no  act  which  is  menial. 
Under  the  law,  all  offenses,  as  violations  of  law,  had  an  equality 
of  guilt.  'He  that  offcndeth  in  one  point,  is  guilty  of  the  whole.' 
In  'our  Father's  business,'  all  things  have  an  ecjuality  of  dignity 
as  entering  into  His  glory!  'Whether  we  eat  or  drink;'  whether 
Ave  learn  or  teach;  whether  we  hold  the  plough  or  throw  the 
shuttle;  whether  we  swell  the  crowded  exchange  or  sit  solitary 
by  the  cradle; — 'whatsoever  we  do,'  if  in  'our  Father's  business 
to  our  Father's  glory,'  it  is,  thereby,  dignified  and  sanctified  and 
an  offering  made  meet  for  His  acceptance." 

One  of  the  counsels  which  he  gave  toward  the  close  of  tlie 
sermon  was,  "Be  not  envious  of  the  allotment  of  others,"  under 
which  he  said: 

"The  blazing  star  appears  to  us  immense  and  glorious,  while 
a  twinkling  night-star  seems  tiny  and  trivial;  yet,  in  the  Creator's 
eye,  the  latter  may  excel  the  former  in  grandeur  and  in  glory. 
Kings  and  princes,  the  wise  and  noble,  the  rich  and  prosperous, 
are  illustrious  in  the  eyes  of  their  fellows.  If,  in  their  several 
allotments,  they  are  about  their  'Father's  business,'  do  you  rejoice 
in  the  tri])ute  which  they  bring  to  your  Father's  glory,  even  though 
your  lot  should  not  be  among  such.  As  God  gives  unto  you,  so 
do  you  return  unto  Him. 

"  Bring  forth  from  your  heart  self — self!  that  enemy  to  your- 
self, to  all  righteousness  and  God,  and  slay  it  before  Him.  Thus 
shall  you  be  ever  free  to  do  your  'Father's  Inisincss.'  Thus  shall 
you  exult,  exult  only,  and  exult  forever  in  your  Father's  glory." 

These  considerations  may  help  any  who  are  interested  to  un- 
derstand why  it  was  that  Dr.  Dale  did  not  stand  in  some  promi- 
nent pulpit,  the  object  of  admiring  multitudes.     It  was  the  will 


70 

of  God  that  he  should  engage  in  other  work,  less  conspicuous  for 
the  time,  and  he  was  happy  and  contented  in  doing  what  he  re- 
garded as  the  will  and  work  of  his  Heavenly  Father.  Yet  all  the 
while,  in  his  own  quiet,  unobtrusive  way,  and  without  trying  to 
do  it,  he  was  chiselling  out  for  himself  a  name  that  shall  endure, 
and  that  will  be  spoken  with  the  most  profound  respect  when  the 
names  of  many  of  his  seemingly  more  brilliant  cotemporaries  shall 
have  been  entirely  forgotten. 

Ab  a  Fastar. 

In  the  early  days  of  his  ministry,  Dr.  Dale  was  indefatigable 
as  a  pastor.  With  his  young  wife,  he  spent  much  time  among 
the  people  of  his  charge.  They  used  to  go  and  spend  several  days 
together,  at  different  points,  in  their  one  hundred  square  miles  of 
territory,  visiting  from  house  to  house,  and  holding  meetings  for 
preaching  and  prayer.  At  these  times,  and  also  at  all  his  out-posts 
for  preaching,  many  belonging  to  other  denominations,  and  to  no 
denomination  at  all,  came  out  to  hear  him,  and  there  are  multi- 
tudes still  living  who  gladly  testify  that  his  teaching  and  preach- 
ing were  abundantly  blessed  to  the  saving  and  to  the  building 
up  of  their  souls  in  Divine  truth.  Such  was  the  extent  of  his 
preaching  and  pastoral  visiting,  in  these  early  days,  that  more  than 
one  person  has  said,  "There  was  scarcely  a  house  in  Delaware 
county  that  he  did  not  convert  into  a  sanctuary  for  the  worship 
of  God." 

As  a  pastor  the  young  folks  found  in  him  a  genial  companion, 
who,  by  his  own  life,  taught  them  how  to  get  the  highest  enjoy- 


71 

ment  out  of  the  world,  without  becoming  part  and  parcel  of  the 
giddy  whirl,  and  without  even  compromising  their  Christian  pro- 
fession or  character.  The  older  people  found  in  him  a  strong 
helper,  and  a  wise  counsellor  in  the  tangled  and  perplexing  affairs 
of  life.  The  sick,  the  sorrowing  and  the  troubled,  found  him  ever 
ready  to  sympathize  with  them,  and  able  to  draw  for  them,  from 
the  fountain  of  God's  precious  Word,  those  comforts  and  consola- 
tions which  never  fail  to  support  believers  in  the  midst  of  trial 
and  trouble,  and  which  have  ever  carried  them  through  the  deep 
waters  of  affliction. 

As  the  years  went  on,  he  did  less  of  what  is  strictly  called 
"pastoral  visiting;"  he  withdrew  himself  more  and  more  from  the 
social  life  of  the  community  around  him,  for  the  reason  that  he 
became  so  thoroughly  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  subject  of  Bap- 
tism. He  was  as  conscientious  in  this  as  in  every  thing  else  that 
he  did.  He  came  to  feel  that  in  this  study  his  Master  had  given 
to  him  a  field  of  labor,  broader  than  that  of  his  pastoral  charge, 
better  calculated  to  advance  the  truth  and  to  promote  the  glory 
of  God.  Absorbed,  however,  as  he  became  in  this  study,  when 
their  condition  was  known  to  him,  he  always  found  time  to  visit 
the  sick,  and  such  as  specially  needed  him  to  minister  to  them  the 
comforts  and  consolations  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Those  who 
came  to  him  on  spiritual  errands,  and  even  socially,  received  as 
cordial  a  welcome  from  him  as  if  he  had  been  a  man  of  "society," 
with  abundance  of  leisure  at  his  disposal.  In  fact,  until  "  Classic 
Baptism"  was  published,  no  one  knew  what  a  busy  man  he  was, 
and  what  an  immense  work  he  was  (quietly  accomplishing. 


72 

The  weekly  cottage  prayer  meetings,  which  he  regularly  con- 
ducted, constitute  an  important  and  interesting  feature  of  Dr. 
Dale's  pastoral  work.  They  were  held  in  the  private  parlors  of 
the  members  of  the  congregation,  on  Wednesday  evenings,  and 
were  well  attended.  The  services  were  very  simple,  hut  very  im- 
pressive. Dr.  Dale  sat  during  the  exercises,  and  talked  in  a  con- 
versational manner,  as  a  father  would  speak  with  his  children. 
There  was  an  earnestness  in  his  voice,  and  in  the  thoughts  that  he 
presented,  which  showed  his  anxiety  for  the  salvation  of  souls  and 
the  upbuilding  of  God's  people  in  their  Christian  life.  The  hymns 
which  he  gave  out  to  be  sung  were  evidently  selected  with  care 
and  with  a  purpose.  They  were  of  a  devotional  character,  and 
gave  expression  to  some  phase  of  Christian  experience.  The  sen- 
timent of  the  first  hymn  was  often  the  topic  of  the  hour  and  the 
text  of  his  first  address.  Instead  of  one  long  address,  he  usually 
made  two  or  three;  or  he  divided  his  address  into  two  or  three 
parts,  with  a  stirring  hymn  and  a  prayer  between  each  part. 
Every  part  of  the  service  seemed  to  fit  into  every  other  part. 
The  hymns  sung,  the  Scripture  read,  the  prayers  offered,  and  the 
remarks  made,  all  seemed  to  be  linked  together  in  such  a  way 
that  the  dullest  mind  could  scarcely  fail  to  catch  the  unity  of 
thought  that  pervaded  the  whole,  and  to  carry  away  some  one 
grand  impression  from  the  meeting.  As  he  analyzed  the  precious- 
ness  of  some  Divine  promise,  exalted  some  glorious  attribute  of 
the  Diety,  unfolded  some  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  opened  up  some 
line  of  Christian  duty,  or  laid  bare  the  insidious  influence  of  some 
damning  sin,  there  was  a  stillness  in  the  assembly  that  was  easily 
felt,  but  hard  to  be  described.     Many  went  to  these  meetings 


78 

weary,  and  found  rest;  cast  down,  and  were  lifted  up;  discouraged 
in  the  moral  battle  of  life,  and  went  away  determined  to  renew  it 
with  greater  vigor.  The  weak  faith  was  strengthened;  the  faint 
hopes  were  brightened ;  the  limited  joy  was  enlarged.  The  gen- 
eral impression  of  these  cottage  prayer  meetings  may  be  described 
in  the  words  of  Peter  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration:  "Lord,  it 
is  good  for  us  to  be  here." 

Dr.  Dale  was  pre-eminently  gifted  in  prayer.  His  public 
prayers  were  not  the  mere  performance  of  a  public  duty.  It  was 
evident  to  all  who  heard  him  that  he  was  himself  a  man  of  secret 
prayer,  a  man  who,  like  Enoch,  walked  with  God,  and  who  enjoyed 
the  companionship  of  the  Almighty.  In  his  prayers  there  was 
much  of  what  we  call  "  unction,"  the  presence  of  which  one  can 
readily  detect,  but  scarcely  define.  The  beginning  of  his  prayer 
usually  consisted  in  his  adoration  of  the  Almighty,  which  was 
grand  and  filled  all  hearts  with  a  sense  of  the  Divine  presence  and 
glory.  As  he  went  on,  he  seemed  to  get  utterly  lost  in  his  contem- 
plation of  the  glorious  attributes  of  God  and  the  perfections  of 
his  character.  To  him  the  presence  and  nearness  of  Grod  were  a 
living  reality.  The  Being  whose  presence  filled  immensity  and 
whose  perfections  were  so  overwhelming  and  awe-inspiring  was 
after  all  his  Friend  and  Father,  sweetly  and  tenderly  revealed  in 
the  person  of  His  own  Son  Jesus  Christ.  There  was  no  undue 
familiarity  with  God,  and  yet  there  was  such  a  dignified  freedom 
and  intimacy  that  he  seemed  to  talk  with  Him  face  to  face,  as  an 
afl:eetionate  child  talks  to  a  loving  father.  As  all  knelt  in  prayer, 
at  the  cottage  [)rayer  meetings,  when  Dr.  Dale  was  their  mouth- 
piece at  the  throne  of  grace,  no  want  of  the  needy  soul  was  over- 


74 

looked,  no  special  case  of  affliction  or  trouble  was  forgotten.  He 
prayed  like  one  who  realized  that  God  alone  is  worthy  of  our 
worship,  adoration  and  praise ;  and  that  He  is  the  hearer  and  an- 
swerer of  prayer.  He  lifted  every  heart  up  to  the  very  throne  of 
God,  or  rather  he  brought  God  so  near  that  all  were  conscious  of 
His  presence  and,  like  Jacob,  were  ready  to  exclaim:  "Surely  the 
Lord  is  in  this  place;  and  I  knew  it  not.  *  *  *  How  dreadful 
is  this  place!  This  is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and  this 
is  the  gate  of  Heaven."  Such  was  the  impression  that  his  prayers 
made,  whether  offered  at  the  family  altar,  the  social  prayer  meet- 
ing, or  in  the  sanctuary.  There  are  many  for  whom  he  prayed 
collectively  and  individually.  Eternity  alone  will  reveal  the  indebt- 
edness of  many,  and,  indeed,  of  the  whole  community  in  which  he 
dwelt,  for  the  earnest,  fervent  and  importunate  prayers  which  he 
presented  to  God  in  their  behalf. 

Activity  in  the  Temperance  Cause. 

While  he  was  yet  a  student  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  his 
letters  show  that  Dr.  Dale  was  thoroughly  interested  in  the  cause 
of  temperance,  which,  with  him,  meant  total  abstinence  from  all 
intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage.  He  saw  the  desolation  of  homes, 
the  degradation  of  character,  and  the  destruction  of  everlasting 
life  daily  produced  by  intoxicating  liquors;  he  saw  this  monster 
fiend  stalking  abroad  through  all  the  land,  and  determined,  as  a 
duty  to  God  and  to  his  fellow-men,  that  he  would  do  his  part 
toward  the  destruction  of  this  ruinous  foe  of  human  happiness.  On 
the  ground  of  expediency  he  was  a  total  abstainer,  so  that  the 


75 

silent  influence  of  his  example  might  be  a  constant  appeal  for 
sobriety  in  others.  The  motto  which  he  adopted  for  himself  and 
recommended  to  others  was:  '■'•Abstain  entirely  from  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating liquors  FOR  THE  SAKE  OF  OTHERS."  In  addition  to  the 
quiet  influence  of  his  example,  he  made  direct,  aggressive  and 
constant  efforts  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  people  and  for  the 
suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic.  He  frequently  preached  on  tem- 
perance in  his  own  pulpit,  and  during  his  whole  ministry,  he  was 
ever  ready,  except  when  providentially  hindered,  to  respond  to 
every  call  that  came  to  him  from  any  quarter  to  preach  sermons, 
deliver  lectures  and  addresses  on  the  subject.  In  every  Christian 
way  that  came  within  his  reach  he  was  more  than  willing  to  give 
his  time,  his  means,  his  ability  and  his  influence  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  cause.  These  sermons  and  addresses  were  models  of 
their  kind.  The  spirit  that  pervaded  them  was  always  the  spirit 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  At  such  times  the  best  citizens  of  all 
denominations  in  the  community  heard  him  gladly.  There  was  a 
time  when  the  announcement  that  Dr.  Dale  would  speak  on  tem- 
perance, would  draw  a  full  house  at  any  hour,  in  almost  any  part 
of  the  county. 

Dr.  Dale  was  sometimes  highly  dramatic  in  his  pulpit  efforts, 
but  never  more  so  than  when  temperance  was  his  theme. 

At  midnight,  on  December  15,  1851,  a  citizen  of  Media 
stepped  into  the  Delaware  river,  at  Chester,  Avhile  in  a  state  of 
intoxication.  This  was  made  the  occasion  of  a  funeral  address  on 
the  death  of  the  man,  by  Dr.  Dale,  from  the  words:  "Ye  shall 
know  them  hy  their  fruits.  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or 
flgs  of  thistles?"     The  addres-s  ^vas  a  most  searching  presentation 


7(3 

of  the  evils  of  the  liquor  system,  illustrated  and  enforced  hy  facts 
and  figures  gathered  from  the  immediate  community,  the  county, 
the  State,  the  whole  country,  and  from  other  lands  as  well  as  our 
own.  Like  a  kind,  sympathetic,  hut  steady-handed  surgeon,  the 
preacher  plunged  the  knife  of  reason  and  of  divine  truth  into  this 
festering  ulcer  on  the  hody  of  civilized  humanity  until  the  most 
skeptical  could  hardly  fail  to  see  the  sorrow,  desolation,  degrada- 
tion and  death  which  it  is  constantly  producing.  With  legal  skill 
he  arraigned  the  tempters  of  the  unfortunate  man  until  they  must 
have  keenly  felt,  as  they  read  his  words,  his  withering  denuncia- 
tion. We  give  some  extracts  from  this  sermon  which  will  show 
how  Dr.  Dale  handled  this  subject  and  also  illustrate  his  dramatic 
Btyle: 

"He  was  now  invited  by  a  friend  to  accompany  him  home. 
To  this  he  replied  that  a  business  engagement  would  require  him 
to  take  a  different  route.     Both,  however,  advanced  to  the  door 

for  the  purpose  of  departing,  when  C was  arrested,  on  its 

threshold,  by  another  invitation  to  drink.  He  hesitated.  Now 
looking  toward  his  departing  friend,  and  now  toward  the  voice  of 
temptation.  Life  and  death  vibrated  in  the  balance.  It  was  a 
moment  of  suspense  so  pregnant  with  results  that  the  anxious 
heart  might  well  stop  its  throbbing  while  the  issue  is  making  up. 
It  is  done.  Death  has  triumphed.  There  on  that  bar  for  a  table, 
with  a  bit  of  silver  for  a  pen,  with  intoxicating  liquor  for  the  ink, 
with  Hhe  sale'  for  a  hand,  with  all  the  parties  concerned  as  wit- 
nesses to  the  instrument,  a  covenant  with  death  is  written  out — 
while  underneath  the  whole  is  written,  in  characters  unobserved 
then  by  any,  but  which  afterwards  flashed  out  as  in  letters  of  fire 
— ''Sour  of  execution,  twelve,  midnight!' 


77 

"Oh!  had  there  been  some  prophet  in  that  hour  to  reveal 
those  awful  words,  how  would  the  hand  of  seller,  and  drinker, 
and  victim,  like  that  of  Belshazzar  and.  his  lords,  have  been  un- 
loosed from  the  cup  and  all,  in  horror,  fled  from  that  room  together! 
But  alas  1  there  is  no  Daniel  to  inter^jret.  There  is  none  to  crush 
the  blossom  ere  the  fruit  ripen.  No  eye  sees  the  spectre  of  death 
in  their  midst.  Visions  of  'sport'  float  in  the  fumes  which  rise 
from  the  intoxicating  cup.  These  visions  are  soon  changed  into 
realities.  The  unhappy  man  is  soon  bereft  of  reason  and  is,  for 
'  sport !'  treated  as  a  butfoon.  Peculiarities  of  character  commend- 
able in  sobriety,  but  now  distorted  by  a  detlironed  intellect,  are 
made  the  occasion  for  jest  and  ridicule.  'Sport'  like  this  'grows 
by  what  it  feeds  upon.'  Consequently  there  is  soon  superadded 
the  disfigurement  of  his  person.  His  face  is  blackened.  Thus 
the  'sport'  thickens. 

"  Later  in  the  evening  he  is  grotesquely  arrayed  in  his  ap- 
parel, now  torn  and  cut.  *  *  *  The  heathen  drugged  the 
irrational  beast  to  minister  to  their  appetite;  the  taste  of  Christ- 
ians selects  as  its  victim  a  '  fellow-citizen,  a  husband,  and  a  father!' 

"As  the  hour  of  midnight  approaches,  this  sporting  with  such 
petty  trifles  as  the  rationality  of  manhood,  the  self-respect  of  a 
citizen,  the  honor  of  a  husband,  and  the  dignity  of  a  parent, 
wearies.  The  unhappy  victim  ceases  to  be  baited.  He  is  left  to 
stand  alone,  drunk,  at  the  corners  of  the  street. 

"  The  chill  December  blast  goes  howling  by.  The  snow-flake 
hurtles  in  the  air.  And  there,  dimly  seen  through  the  darkness,  he 
stands  arrayed  in  'coat  torn  and  turned  inside  out,  in  hat  with 
front  cut  out  and  drawn  down  so  that  his  blackened  visage  may  peer 
out  through  the  opening.'  *  *  Answer  all  ye  who  look  upon 
the  hideous  spectacle — Is  that  the  man  who,  a  few  hours  since, 
with  all  the  feelings  of  a  husband  and  a  father,  eagerly  sought  his 


78 

quiet  home,  a  place  at  the  evening  meal,  repose,  after  the  day's 
toil,  in  the  bosom  of  his  family?  Ah!  truly  'the  fruit'  is  ripen- 
ing. 

"  But  see ;  he  turns  toward  the  river !  Has  that  wintry  blast 
driven  the  fumes  of  intoxication  from  his  brain?  Have  those 
snow-flakes  cooled  his  fevered  system  ?  Has  he  awaked  at  last, 
left  now  alone,  to  a  consciousness  of  his  degradation?  Do  the 
thoughts  of  to-morrow,  of  its  laugh,  and  jest,  and  scoft',  of  the 
story  of 'the  sport'  which  he  has  aflbrded,  rush  through  his  brain? 
Does  the  remembrance  of  home,  of  wife  and  children,  rise  up 
maddening  before  him  ?  Do  reflections  like  these  bring  with  them 
a  burden  too  great  to  be  borne?  Does  he  choose  death  rather,  and 
is  it,  therefore,  that  he  turns  toward  the  river?  Is  this  fruit  about 
to  ripen  into  suicide?     If  so,  it  is  no  new  thing. 

"But,  it  may  be  that  that  Winter's  night  has  so  chilled  that 
illy  protected  body,  and  benumbed  every  faculty,  that  he  is  all  un- 
conscious whither  he  goes.  Perhaps  he  dreams  that  his  steps  are 
tending  homeward.  When  his  foot  treads  upon  the  pier's  brink, 
it  may  be  that  he  imagines  that  it  is  the  threshold  of  his  own 
dwelling.  Alas!  it  is  the  threshold  of  eternity.  The  fruit  has 
fully  ripened.  One  more  step,  and  he  treads  upon  the  empty  air 
— plunges  into  the  icy  flood!  A  cry!  a  death-cry,  rings  above 
the  waters!  0  ye,  who  solicited,  who  sold,  who  made  'sport,' 
have  ye  so  soon  and  so  deeply  sunk  into  slumber  that  that  death- 
shriek  enters  not  your  ear?  A  struggle,  and  he  goes  down  be- 
neath the  freezing  waters.  He  rises  again.  Hark!  is  that  the 
voice  of  prayer  ?  Has  that  ice-cold  shock  re-enthroned  reason  ? 
When  midnight  has  closed  every  human  ear,  does  he  cry  unto 
that  God  to  whom  'the  darkness  and  the  light  are  both  alike?' 
What  is  the  prayer  oflfered  up  in  that  awful  hour?  Is  it  for  those 
without  whom  the  Delaware  would  not  now  enfold  her  cold  wind- 
ing-sheet around  him  ?    Is  it  for  them  he  prays — 'Father,  forgive 


70 

them,'  they  knew  not  what  they  rlid?  Or,  is  his  latest  breath 
poured  out  in  prayer  for  a  wife  soon  to  be  a  widow;  for  chil- 
dren soon  to  be  orplians?  Or,  is  it  for  his  own  soul  he  prays, 
'Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  my  charge.'  God  knoweth.  His  ear 
alone  heard  those  last  death-cries  which  rose  aljove  the  wintry 
storm,  and  rolled  along  the  fast  congealing  waters.  His  eye  alone 
witnessed  the  falling  of  the  ripened  fruit,  the  death-struggle  in 
the  Delaware. 

"Although  under  a  December  sky,  the  fruit  has  ripened  fast. 
From  the  going  down  of  the  snn  until  midnight,  manhood  has 
])een  debased,  a  valuable  citizen  has  been  irrecoverably  disgraced, 
the  head  of  a  family  has  been  treated  for  'sport'  so  as  heathen  treat 
not  their  slaves  or  their  beasts,  and  suicide,  or  other  murderous 
form  of  death,  has  sent  a  soul  unsummoned  into  the  presence  of 
Almighty  God,  there  to  announce  that,  in  yet  another  case,  '  the 
fruit'  had  ripened  on  the  boughs  of  the  traffic  in  intoxicating 
liquors,  and  fallen  into  eternity^ 

When  the  borough  of  Media  was  about  to  be  incorpor- 
ated, it  occurred  to  Dr.  Dale  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to 
have  a  clause  in  the  charter,  forever  prohibiting  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  within  the  borough  limits. 
The  more  he  thought  of  it  the  more  it  seemed  to  him  that 
earnest  efforts  should  be  promptly  made,  to  secure  perpetually 
to  the  community  so  great  a  blessing.  With  careful  delibera- 
tion he  counted  the  cost;  he  considered  the  opposition  likely  to 
be  encountered,  and  the  quarters  from  which  the  opposition  was 
likely  to  come;  he  measured  the  strength  of  every  foe;  and 
then  decided  that,  with  the  blessing  of  God  on  his  best  and  most 
pei-sistent  effort,  the  borough  of  Media  would  begin  its  history 
with  a  prohibitory  clause  in  its  charter. 


80 

He  began  the  movement,  which  was  to  make  the  new  county 
seat  forever  free  from  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  bev- 
erage, by  visiting  personally  a  large  number  of  prominent  and  in- 
fluential persons  in  different  parts  of  the  county,  to  whom  he  pre- 
sented his  idea  and  the  methods  by  which  it  was  to  be  realized. 
Some  doubted  the  wisdom  of  such  an  undertaking ;  some  were  al- 
together indifferent;  some  were  sure  that  such  a  clause  in  the 
borough  charter  would  never  be  a  success.  There  were  others, 
however,  who  sympathized  with  Dr.  Dale,  and  promised  to  give 
to  him  their  hearty  cooperation.  A  public  meeting  was  called, 
which  was  attended  by  citizens  from  more  than  one-half  of  the 
townships  and  incorporated  districts  of  the  county.  This  meeting 
appointed  a  large  committee.  Dr.  Dale  was  made  Secretary  of 
the  committee,  and  in  this  capacity  almost  the  entire  work  of  the 
committee  fell  upon  him.  It  could  not  have  fallen  upon  a  more 
willing,  laborious  and  efficient  worker.  As  Secretary,  Dr.  Dale 
prepared  an  "Address  from  the  Central  Committee  to  the  Citizens 
of  Delaware  County,"  which  was  signed  by  twenty-three  influen- 
tial persons  as  the  committee.  The  address  sets  forth  the  origin 
and  object  of  the  committee's  appointment,  and  pleads  earnestly 
in  behalf  of  the  insertion  of  the  prohibitory  clause  in  the  charter 
of  the  new  county  seat.  Dr.  Dale  addressed  letters  of  inquiry  to 
members  of  the  bar,  asking  them,  '''•What  is  the  connection,  if  any, 
between  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  the  criminal  business  of  our 
courts  f  He  also  sent  letters  of  inquiry  to  clergymen,  to  phy- 
sicians, to  manufacturers,  and  to  county  officers,  concerning  the 
use  and  the  effects  of  intoxicating  liquors,  as  they  came  under  the 
observation  of  each  of  these  classes  of  citizens.     In  every  case, 


81 

the  habitual  use  of  intoxicating  li(j^uors  was  declared  to  be  evil, 
only  evil,  and  that  continually.  These  inquiries  and  the  replies 
thereto  are  to  be  found  in  a  pamphlet  of  47  pages  which  Dr.  Dale 
had  published,  under  the  title  of  "Facts  to  Think  About,  and 
What's  the  Remedy?"  "Without  going  farther  into  detail,  suffice 
it  to  say  that,  largely  through  the  wisdom,  zeal,  influence  and  toil 
of  Dr.  Dale,  the  Media  Charter  passed  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, at  Harrisburg,  February  12,  and  the  Senate  February  26, 
1850.  Speaking  of  this  result,  in  the  closing  address  of  the  com- 
mittee, though  it  was  almost  wholly  due  to  his  own  laborious 
efforts,  he  more  than  modestly  shares  the  honor  with  his  fellow- 
citizens,  as  follows: 

"A  bright  hope  has  been  enkindled  by  this  result  of  your 
efforts.  A  spark  has  been  stricken  out  among  the  hills  of  Dela- 
ware. To  what  end?  To  be  extinguished,  and  thus  render  our 
darkness  more  terrible?  Shall  this  be?  ISTo!  The  twcntN'-two 
townships  of  Delaware  answer,  No!  We  will  watch  over  it, 
and  breathe  upon  it  until  it  burns,  and  glows,  and  radiates  with 
beams  of  truth  all  over  our  great  commonwealth. 

"You  may  claim  this  result  as  emphatically  your  own.  The 
movement  of  which  it  is  the  offspring  was  peculiarly  a  home 
movement.  It  originated  among  yourselves.  It  was  advocated 
by  yourselves.  These  pages  are  filled  with  the  testimony  of  those 
who  are  a  part  of  yourselves.  And  when,  in  the  progress  of  things, 
the  decision  of  the  question  was  transferred  to  Harrisburg,  your 
representatives  nobly  bore  aloft  the  banner  you  had  unfui-led, 
until  the  fullest  triumph  rested  on  its  folds." 

His  work  in  this  direction  was  not  at  an  end  when  the  char- 
ter with  its  prohibitory  feature  was  secured.     That  cliarter  must 


82 

now  be  made  effective.  It  must  bo  maintained  and  preserved. 
The  first  real  difficulty  that  sprung  up  was  the  want  of  a  bourse 
of  public  entertainment.  There  was  no  hotel.  Without  a  license 
to  sell  intoxicating  liquor,  no  one  was  willing  to  take  the  risk  of 
erectinsj  a  house  sufficiently  large  and  commodious  to  accomodate 
the  travelling  public.  It  soon  began  to  be  rumored  that  the  char- 
ter must  be  repealed  in  order  to  secure  hotel  accommodations  for 
those  whose  business  called  them  to  the  county  seat.  Even  those 
who  were  once  the  friends  of  the  charter  were  losing  faith  in  the 
success  of  its  operation  and  beginning  to  advocate  repeal.  Dr. 
Dale  was  not  slow  to  recognize  this  as  an  important  and  critical 
time  in  the  history  of  the  charter,  and  one  that  its  friends  must 
promptly  meet,  or  give  it  up. 

In  those  days  the  people  of  Delaware  county  were  accustomed 
to  hold  an  annual  meeting  in  some  large  grove,  which  they  called 
a  "Harvest  Home."  A  part  of  the  day  was  usually  spent  in  lis- 
tening to  addresses  on  the  subject  of  temperance  from  eminent 
home  and  foreign  speakers.  This  was  a  time  also  when  the  tem- 
perance leaders  quietly  consulted  together  and  formed  their  plans 
for  the  future.  Dr.  Dale  was  always  prominent  among  the  speak- 
ers and  the  counsellors  at  these  harvest  homos.  It  was  while  on 
his  way  to  one  of  these  gatherings  that  he  conceived  the  idea 
which  saved  the  charter  from  repeal,  and  which  has  kept  its  pro- 
hibitory clause  in  operation  until  the  present  hour.  That  idea 
was  the  organization  of  a  company  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable 
building  to  be  used  as  a  temperance  hotel.  This  was  the  burden 
of  Dr.  Dale's  speech  at  this  harvest  home,  and  such  was  the  success 
of  his  effort  that  a  company  was  organized,  the  stock  was  sub- 


83 

scribed  and,  in  time,  the  houRo  was  built,  leased  and  opened  for 
the  entertainment  of  the  travelling  public.  Its  name,  "Charter 
House"  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Dale,  as  a  reminder  to  the  people  of 
Media  and  to  all  visitors  that  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  as  a 
lieverage,  is  forever  prohibited  within  the  corporate  limits  of  the 
borough.  Thus  the  prohibitory  clause  in  the  charter  of  the  town 
of  Media,  with  the  "  Charter  House,"  as  its  visible  representative, 
constitute  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Dale  more  than  to 
that  of  any  other  human  being.  Of  course,  he  had  many  coi- 
workers,  but  he  was  its  author,  its  promoter,  and  its  able  and  suc- 
cessful defender.  All  through  his  busy  life  he  watched  it  with 
eagle  eyes;  and  when  its  life  was  threatened,  as  it  was  some  two 
or  three  times,  he  laid  aside  everything  else  and  sprang  like  a 
strong  man  armed  to  its  defense,  and  saved  it  from  repeal.  This 
rich  legacy  which  Dr.  Dale  has  left  is  worth  infinitely  more  to  the 
people  of  Media  and  Delaware  county  than  millions  of  dollars. 

Autharship. 

During  his  ministry  the  sermons  of  Dr.  Dale  were  frequently 
published  in  the  newspapers,  and  quite  a  number  appeared  in 
pamphlet  form.  The  early  files  of  the  county  newspapers  are 
filled  with  columns  from  his  ready  pen  in  defense  of  various 
interests  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  community  and  the 
cause  of  truth  and  righteousness.  He  regarded  himself  not  only 
as  an  ambassador  from  the  court  of  heaven  to  men,  not  merely  as  a 
Presbyterian  preacher  and  pastor;  but,  also,  as  a  Christian  citizen; 
and,  as  such,  he  wrote  much  as  well  as  spoke  much  in  behalf  of 


84 

the  people's  interests  and  rights  whenever  and  wherever  they 
were  assailed. 

But  his  volumes  on  Baptism  are  the  great  and  crowning 
work  of  his  life.  Yery  early  in  his  pastoral  settlement  Dr.  Dale 
began  the  independent  study  of  the  subject  of  Baptism,  without 
the  slightest  intention  of  stirring  up  controversy,  making  a  book, 
or  publishing  a  line.  He  took  it  up,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  for 
his  "own  personal  instruction."  As  he  says:  "The  treatment  of 
the  subject  as  heretofore  conducted  left  the  merits  of  the  case,  in 
some  respects  at  least,  clouded  with  uncertainty  and  embarrassed 
with  perplexity.  For  my  own  satisfaction  I  sought  to  find  out 
the  reason  for  this  unsatisfactory  result."  As  he  continued  the 
study  of  his  subject  his  interest  in  it  continued  to  increase  until 
it  became  the  ruling  theme  of  his  thought.  He  was  not  satisfied 
to  accept  the  researches  of  others,  nor  the  conclusions  to  which 
they  had  come.  He,  therefore,  determined  to  investigate,  as 
thoroughly  as  possible,  the  whole  subject  independently  for  him- 
self, without  any  regard  to  the  conclusions  to  which  his  mind 
might  be  driven  by  the  stern  demands  of  facts  and  the  logical 
results,  which  would  of  necessity  grow  out  of  such  lines  of  thought 
as  he  proposed  to  pursue  to  their  very  end.  If  he  had  theories* 
on  the  subject  he  laid  them  all  to  one  side  and  set  out  as  an  earnest 
and  honest  inquirer,  with  only  one  simple  question,  which  he  kept 
ever  before  his  mind,  viz.,  What  is  truth?  He  was  not  satisfied 
to  skim  along  the  surface  of  his  subject,  but  he  penetrated  it  to 
its  deepest  depths,  satisfying  himself  at  every  point  that  he  stood 

*  If  Dr.  Dale's  mind  was  biased  at  all,  when  he  took  up  the  independent  study  of  the 
subject  of  Baptism,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  a  bias  in  favor  of  Baptist  views. 


85 

upon  the  solid  rock  of  eternal  truth.  He  received  nothing  second 
hand.  IIo  accepted  no  definition  of  words,  nor  interpretation  of 
texts  of  Scripture  merely  because  they  were  sustained  by  high 
authority.  While  he  ever  bowed  with  respectful  deference  to 
great  names,  and  to  the  conclusions  of  accepted  scholarship,  yet 
lie  did  not  allow  these  to  wholly  settle  a  point  for  him.  If  he 
met  with  a  difficulty,  (he  met  with  many,)  and  it  was  capable  of 
independent  investigation,  he  took  it  up  for  himself,  worked  out 
patiently  and  often  laboriously  his  own  conclusion  and  set  it 
down  as  such.  If  his  result  was  in  harmony  with  that  of  famous 
scholars  who  had  previously  trodden  the  same  path,  he  was 
pleased ;  if  not,  he  felt  that  he  must,  after,  perha})s,  a  careful 
review,  al)ide  by  his  own.  N'ot  only  did  he  read  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures in  the  original  languages  and  analyze  for  himself  the  words 
and  passages  that  bore  upon  his  topic,  but  he  imported  from 
France,  the  only  country  in  which  they  were  then  published,  the 
original  works  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  Fathers,  which  he  studied 
day  and  night,  for  years.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother,  who  was 
going  to  Paris,  and  through  whom  he  imported  the  books,  he 
writes : 

"My  special  object  is  to  investigate  a  theological  question 
which  turns  on  certain  points  of  usage  in  the  Greek  language. 
The  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  is,  I  think,  very  explicit;  but 
some  think  that  'the  Fathers'  are  opposed  to  the  inter}>retation 
derived  from  the  New  Testament  usage  and  would,  hence,  throw 
doubt  on  such  interpretation.  My  impression  is  that  there  will 
be  found  an  agreement  between  the  New  Testament  and  patristic 
usage,  on  a  proper  examination.  This  can  only  be  made  by  an 
extended  search  through  the  Greek  writers  of  the  first  centuries. 


86 

I  think  that  the  result  will  vindicate  the  expense  and  labor ; 
besides  there  will  be  great  incidental  advantage  in  the  study  of 
these  earliest  writers  upon  the  great  themes  of  Christianity.  I 
have,  therefore,  concluded  to  order  the  set  of  the  Greek  Fathers  as 
they  stand  in  the  catalogue  for  the  first  four  centuries;  and  to 
select  some  of  the  Latin  Fathers.     ^     *     * 

"As  to  the  price  of  the  books  I  would  like  to  get,  I  judge, 
from  the  catalogue  statement,  that  the  cost  (without  any  deduc- 
tion) would  be  about  $175.  This  is  a  large  amount — larger  than 
I  would  be  able  to  devote  to  this  purpose — but  as  I  am  desirous 
to  pursue  the  inquiry  in  which  I  am  engaged  to  a  satisfactory 
issue,  I  thought  that  I  would  be  justified  in  appropriating  $100 
to  this.  If  Richard,  who  kindly  offered  his  aid,  would  supple- 
ment the  amount,  I  would  receive  it,  as  the  offer  was  meant  to 
be,  an  evidence  of  sweet  brotherly  love  beyond  the  price  of  silver 
and  gold  I" 

Not  more  delighted  is  the  child  with  his  new  picture-book 
or  toy  than  was  Dr.  Dale  when  he  unpacked  and  stood  up  in 
order  on  the  shelves  of  his  library,  in  paper  covers,  some  thirty- 
six  volumes  of  the  writings  of  the  Latin  Fathers  and  some  sixty- 
five  volumes  of  the  writings  of  the  Greek  Fathers.  For  years  it 
was  his  constant  delight,  night  and  day  to  pore  over  these  ancient 
authors  with  the  deepest  interest.  So  much  did  he  give  himself  up 
to  the  study  of  these  works  that  there  were  times  when  he  was  ut- 
terly indifferent  both  to  food  and  to  sleep.  Sometimes  he  would  tell 
his  wife,  in  the  morning,  that  if  it  could  possibly  be  avoided,  he 
would  rather  not  be  disturbed  all  day,  no,  not  so  much  as  to  eat. 
The  good  wife  would  regard  his  wishes  and,  for  that  day,  would 
stand  between  the  study  and  all  intruders,  except  that,  at  times. 


87 
during  the  day,  she  would  quietly  slip  in  with  some  food,  on  a 
plate,  which  she  would  set  down  within  his  reach,  and  then  as 
quietly  slip  out  without  speaking  a  word.  Many,  many  a  time 
he  went  into  his  study  early  in  the  long  winter  evenings  and  sat, 
without  a  thought  of  the  flight  of  time,  until  the  morning 
dawned.  More  than  once  after  such  a  season  of  prolonged  mental 
activity  has  he  discovered  to  his  great  astonishment  that  the  night 
was  past  and  that  the  day  had  come,  only  by  discovering  that 
the  brightness  of  the  sun  in  his  study  was  brighter  than  the 
light  of  the  lamp  beside  which  he  had  spent  the  night.  As  a 
result  of  these  studies,  of  these  days  and  nights  of  concentrated 
thought,  there  gradually  grew  around  him  the  material  out  of 
which  his  books  on  Baptism  were  made. 

During  a  college  vacation,  in  the  Spring  of  1862,  the  writer 
was  spending  a  few  hours  socially  with  Dr.  Dale,  in  his  study  at 
Media.  In  his  own  kindly  way  the  Dr.  was  asking  the  young 
collegian  about  his  studies,  the  college  professors,  etc.  At  that 
time  I  was,  and  have  been  ever  since,  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of 
Professor  F.  A.  March,*  L.  L.D.,  both  as  a  man  and  as  a  teacher. 
Having  heard  me  describe  the  course  of  instruction  given  by 
Prof.  March  and  his  method  of  teaching.  Dr.  Dale  said  something 
like  this: 

I  wish  that  I  could  get  Professor  March  to  read  a  book  for 
me.  I  have  a  book.  There,  you  are  the  first  and  only  person  to 
whom  I  have  ever  said  that  I  had  a  book.  It  is  a  book  on  Bap- 
tism.    For  years  I  have  worked  away  at  the  subject,  without 

*  Dr.  F.  A.  March  is  Professor  of  Uie  English  Language  and  Comparative  Philology  in 
Lafayette  College,  Easton,  Pa.,  and  ranks  among  the  foremost  scholars  and  teachers  of  his 
department  in  this  country. 


consulting  anybody  -^Vitli  regard  to  my  labors  or  their  results, 
except  the  works  of  the  authors  which  I  have  read  and  studied, 
I  am  now  at  a  point  where  I  feel  that  I  need  counsel.  A  part  of 
my  labor  is  now  ready  for  the  printer,  if  what  I  have  written  is 
at  all  worth  printing.  I  think  that  there  is  something  in  my 
book,  and  that  I  have  reached  results  in  a  way  that  will  prove 
valuable  to  the  cause  of  truth ;  but  I  cannot  tell  how  my  work 
and  the  conclusions  which  I  have  reached  will  impress  other 
minds.  My  own  mind  is  perfectly  clear  as  to  the  correctness  of 
the  result  and  the  scientific  accuracy  of  the  method  by  which  it 
has  been  reached ;  but  I  want  some  one  to  read  the  book  who  is 
competent  to  do  so,  and  who  will  give  to  me  his  honest  opinion 
in  regard  to  its  merits.  It  is  not  the  opinion  of  a  theologian  that 
I  want  just  now.  I  want  the  judgment  of  a  linguist  and  phi- 
lologist. From  what  you  say  of  Professor  March,  I  believe  that 
he  is  just  the  man  to  read  it.  He  seems  to  have  all  the  essential 
qualifications.  That  part  of  the  book  about  which  I  am  the  most 
concerned  is  in  his  line.  Then  he  has  never  seen  me  and  knows 
"nothing  about  me,  so  that  he  is  not  likely  to  be  prejudiced  in 
favor  of  my  book  by  any  feelings  of  personal  friendship.  He  is 
in  a  position  to  examine  the  book  critically  and  to  judge  of  it  on  its 
own  merits  without  any  regard  to  the  author;  and  that  is  just 
the  position  in  which  I  want  the  man  to  be  who  reads  it  at  this 
time.  "Will  you  ask  Professor  March  to  read  my  book  for  me? 
He  can  take  his  own  time  to  examine  it,  whether  it  be  six  months, 
or  a  year,  or  even  longer.    I  am  in  no  hurry  to  rush  into  print. 

My  beloved  preceptor.  Dr.  March,  kindly  consented  to  read 
the  book,  which  has  since  become  well  known  as  "Classic  Bap- 
tism." I  had  the  honor  of  putting  it  into  his  hands,  and  then  of 
carrying  it  back  to  Dr.  Dale,  with  his  hearty  endorsement  of  the 
points  concerning  which  Dr.  Dale  wanted  his  judgment.     Dr. 


89 

Dale  was  greatly  pleased  when  he  read  the  letter  of  Dr.  March 
and  found  that  the  eminent  philologist  had  put  the  endorsement 
of  his  great  name  on  the  conclusions  which  he,  a  plain  country 
parson,  had  quietly  hammered  out  in  the  retirement  of  his  rural 
study.  Dr.  March  pronounced  the  book  a  work  of  real  merit,  and 
said: 

"It  is  the  most  elaborate  discussion  of  a  single  word  that  I 
have  ever  seen.  *  *  *  It  is  full  of  subtle  analysis ;  but  it  is  all  so 
perspicuous  and  earnest  that  it  holds  the  attention  throughout." 

Dr.  March  also  expressed  the  hope  that  the  manuscript  would 
soon  be  published.  Before  publishing  it,  Dr.  Dale  sent  it  to 
others,  who  were  eminent  for  the  particular  kind  of  scholarship 
that  fitted  them  to  examine  it  and  to  give  an  intelligent  judg- 
ment of  the  merits  of  the  book.  These  scholars  were  carefully 
selected  from  a  variety  of  literary  institutions  and  Christian 
denominations,  so  that  as  candid  and  impartial  an  opinion  as  pos- 
sible might  be  obtained.  It  was  not  mere  praise  that  Dr.  Dale 
wanted.  He  never  hankered  after  that.  He  earnestly  desired 
the  most  candid  and  searching  criticism  of  the  methods  of  his  in- 
vestigations and  of  the  conclusions  to  which  his  investigations  had 
brought  him.  All  to  whom  the  manuscript  was  sent,  or  who 
read  the  proof-sheets  as  they  came  from  the  press,  seem  to  have 
been  of  one  mind  in  regard  to  the  conclusions  of  the  author  and 
the  accuracy  of  the  methods  by  which  these  had  been  reached. 
After  reading  the  book,  Frof.  Thayer,  (Congregationalist)  of  An- 
dover  Theological  Seminary,  wrote  to  Dr.  Dale : 

"If  I  were  to  utter  my  first  impressions,  I  should  break  out 
in  unfeigned  admiration.     That  one  occupied  with  the  duties  of 


90 

the  pastorate  should  have  the  leisure,  patience,  and  mental  energy 
for  an  inquiry  seldom  surpassed,  as  respects  thorough  research,  is 
to  me  a  marvel.  I  can  give  emphatic  testimony  to  the  analytic 
power  and  acuteness  which  the  treatise  exhibits,  as  well  as  to  the 
marked  perspicuity  and  directness  of  statement." 

The  Rev.  Daniel  R.  Goodwin,  D.D,,  (Episcopalian)  Provost 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Professor  of  Theology  in 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Divinity  School  of  Philadelphia,  wrote : 

"I  have  read  your  work  on '  Classic  Baptism'  with  a  satisfac- 
tion amounting  almost  to  admiration.  If  it  has  any  fault,  it  is 
that  the  discussion  is  too  thorough  and  radical  to  be  generally 
appreciated.  But  it  is  a  work  for  scholars;  and,  in  fact,  just  such 
a  discussion  is  what  was  needed.  It  has  long  been  my  conviction 
that  the  Baptist  controversy  is  practically  narrowed  down  to  this 
one  point:  their  allegation,  that  the  Greek  baptizo  means  abso- 
lutely and  always,  ex  vi  termini^  'to  dip'  or  'to  immerse,'  and 
nothing  else.  If  this  position  is  turned,  the  Baptist  cause  is  irre- 
coverably lost. 

"Your  book  will  reflect  credit,  not  only  on  your  alma  mater ^ 
but  on  the  scholarship  of  the  country.  I  am  many  degrees 
prouder  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  than  I  was  before 
reading  it." 

George  Allen,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Greek  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  wrote: 

"Any  tenant  of  the  Greek  chair  must  feel  complimented  to 
have  his  critical  judgment  asked  upon  an  inquiry  so  elaborate  as 
yours.  *  *  *  I  can  fairly  do  no  more  than  express  my  sincere 
admiration  of  the  exhaustive  character  of  your  examination  of 
passages  from  the  entire  range  of  classical  literature,  and  of  ih.Q 
singular  acuteness  with  which  you  have  scrutinized  the  phenomena 


91 

of  language  thus  presented.  *  *  *  Your  treatise,  when  pub- 
lished, will  be  sure  to  attract  the  attention  of  classical  scholars,  as 
well  as  of  theoloii-ians." 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Cummings,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  (Methodist)  Presi- 
dent, &c.,  of  Wesleyan  University,  wrote: 

"I  have  read 'Classic  Baptism'  with  great  interest  and  profit. 
It  is  altogether  the  most  thorough  and  exhaustive  discussion  of 
the  topic  that  I  have  ever  met  with,  and  I  doubt  if  its  equal  can 
anywhere  be  found.  *  *  *  The  treatise  is  full  of  argument  and 
illustration,  compactly  and  systematically  arranged,  forming  for 
the  preacher  and  the  theological  student  the  most  perfect  hand- 
book on  this  topic  extant.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  commend 
the  work  with  unqualified  approbation." 

The  Rev.  C.  W.  Schaefifer,  D.D.,  (Lutheran)  Professor  in  the 
Lutheran  Theological  Seminary,  wrote: 

"My  delay  in  replying  to  your  favor  is  to  be  accounted  for 
only  by  the  absorbing  interest  of  the  work  you  did  me  the  honor  of 
placing  in  my  hands.  I  have  endeavored,  as  you  requested,  'to 
look  over  it,'  but  have  found  that  next  to  impossible.  My  atten- 
tion has  been  fixed  by  every  part  of  it,  so  that  I  have  had  to  go  into 
the  regular  study  of  it.  Its  rare  originality  of  plan,  the  exten- 
sive reading  indicated,  the  accuracy  of  discrimination  everywhere 
met  with,  the  honest  impartiality  observed,  and  the  quiet,  pleasant 
humor  that  every  now  and  then  looks  out,  altogether  combine  to 
mark  it  as  a  work  of  unusual  attractiveness,  and  destined,  I  doubt 
not,  to  exert  a  commanding  influence  upon  the  general  subject  of 
this  famous  controversy.  The  conclusion,  so  a^ttly  stated  on  page 
354,  is  clearly  made  out,  and,  as  I  consider,  nothing  but  the  spirit 
of  determined  adlierence  to  mere  traditionary  usages  could  man- 
age to  stand  out  against  it." 


92 

"  Classic  Baptism  "  was  published,  in  1867 ;  "Judaic  Baptism," 
in  1869;  "Johannic  Baptism,"  in  1871;  "Christie  and  Patristic 
Baptism,"  which  contains  twice  as  much  matter  as  either  of  the 
other  volumes,  appeared  in  1874.  As  these  volumes  were  issued, 
one  after  another,  from  the  press,  they  were  noticed  at  considera- 
ble length  in  the  editorial  columns  of  many  of  the  religious 
papers  of  the  country.  The  solid  and  stately  Quarterly  Reviews 
devoted  pages  to  the  most  favorable  criticism  of  their  contents. 
The  foremost  professors,  pastors,  teachers  and  preachers  were 
strong  in  their  commendation  of  the  author  and  of  the  work 
which  he  had  so  well  accomplished.  Each  volume  as  it  came  out 
increased,  rather  than  diminished,  the  admiration  of  scholars  for 
the  author,  and  added  fresh  laurels  to  his  already  scholarly  repu- 
tation. Scholars  of  all  denominations,  except  those  of  Baptist 
proclivities,  seemed  at  a  loss  to  find  language  strong  enough  to 
give  expression  to  their  admiration  for  Dr.  Dale,  and  to  their 
endorsement  of  his  faithful  and  laborious  researches,  and  the  sound- 
ness of  the  conclusions  to  which  his  studies  had  driven  him. 
"Classic  Baptism"  was  spoken  of  as  "a  marvel;"  as  "a  master- 
piece;" "an  extraordinary  book;"  "taking  rank  with  Edwards  on 
the  Will;"  as  "the  ablest  treatise  on  the  subject  in  the  English 
language."  "Judaic  Baptism"  was  called  "thorough,  exhaustive, 
convincing;"  "sound,  judicious,  conclusive."  The  author  was 
spoken  of  as  "patient,"  "vigilant,"  "laborious  in  his  studies," 
"deep,"  "broad"  and  "profound"  in  his  scholarship.  The  re- 
ligious papers  of  the  Baptist  denomination  also  gave  considerable 
space  to  the  review  of  these  books.  As  a  rule  these  papers  dis- 
paraged and  ridiculed   both  the  author  and  his  work.     '-'•The 


93 

National  Baptist"  however,  was  an  exception,  and  spoke  of  him 
as  an  "author  of  no  small  ability,"  whose  "work  is  worthy  of 
careful  attention,"  while  "the  deliberateness  and  fullness  of  the 
investigation  challenge  our  admiration."  It  would  be  an  easy 
matter  to  till  many  pages  with  the  highest  praise,  the  fullest 
commendation  and  the  most  unqualified  endorsement  of  these 
volumes  of  Dr.  Dale  from  those  who  are  recognized  as  of  high 
authority,  but  enough  has  been  given  to  show  the  kind  reception 
which  his  work  received  from  leading  Episcopalians,  Methodists, 
Lutherans,  Dutch  Reformed,  Congregationalists  and  Presbyter- 
ians. Among  all  their  testimonials  and  criticisms  there  was  a 
remarkable  agreement  in  regard  to  the  method  and  the  results  of 
his  investigations.  If  any  of  our  readers  are  curious  to  know 
how  leading  Baptists  received  the  results  of  Dr.  Dale's  researches, 
and  what  they  said  of  them,  they  are  referred  to  "Baptist  Criti- 
cisms of  Classic  Baptism,"  to  be  found  on  page  21  of  "Judaic 
Baptism."     These  are  curious  enough,  and  well  worth  reading. 

The  publication  of  these  scholarly  volumes,  at  once  lifted  their 
author  out  of  the  comparative  obscurity  in  which  he  had  lived. 
His  company,  his  counsel,  and  his  acquaintance,  were  sought  by 
men  eminent  in  the  theological  world,  who  had  never  seen  or  even 
heard  of  him  before  the  appearance  of  his  books.  Other  writers 
in  the  same  field  began  to  quote  him  as  authority;  and,  to-day, 
there  is,  perhaps,  no  higher  authority  than  Dr.  Dale  on  his  side 
of  this  troublesome  controversy.  One  thing  is  certain,  and  that  is, 
that  no  man  will  be  regarded  as  versed  on  this  subject,  who  has 
not  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  Dr.  Dale's  books.     For 


94 

many  years  to  come  he  will  be  recognized  as  a  standard  author, 
and  his  books  will  be  consulted  and  quoted  as  of  the  highest  au- 
thority. 

In  recognition  of  his  scholarship  and  of  his  ability  as  an  au- 
thor, Hampden  Sidney  College,  Virginia,  conferred  upon  him  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  soon  after  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  his  own  alma  mater,  from  whom  he  had  received 
the  degrees  of  A.B.,  A.M.,  and  M.D.,  also  conferred  upon  him 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  Dr.  Dale  was  exceedingly 
gratified  with  the  kind  and  favorable  reception  which  his  books 
received  from  scholars  and  theologians.  He  was  surprised,  as 
well  as  gratified,  for  he  had  accomplished  far  more  than  he  had 
anticipated.  He  had  become,  in  one  department  of  sacred  learn- 
ing, an  acknowledged  authority,  the  teacher  of  men  on  whom  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  look  as  his  superiors.  He  had  won  for 
himself  a  name  and  a  fame  which  he  had  never  sought.  Such  was 
his  modest  estimate  of  his  own  ability,  that  his  success  and  the 
honor  bestowed  upon  him  by  men  of  the  highest  theological  at- 
tainments and  classical  culture,  were  as  much  of  a  surprise  to  him 
as  they  could  possibly  have  been  to  those  who  ridiculed  his  "Clas- 
sic Baptism"  as  the  work  of  "a  mere  pastor  in  a  small  country 
village." 

Dr.  Dale  received  no  pecuniary  profit  from  the  sale  of  his 
books.  '^OY  did  he  publish  them  with  any  such  purpose.  His 
motive  was  far  higher  than  any  mere  financial  considerations.  In 
their  publication  he  was  kindly  and  substantially  aided  by  his 
generous  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Gustayus  S.  Benson,  who,  from  time 
to  time,  sent  sums  of  money  to  him,  and  humorously  claimed  a 


95 

silent  partnership  in  the  work.  The  following  letter  of  Dr.  Dale, 
acknowledging  one  of  these  gifts  of  Mr.  Benson,  dated  January 
1, 1874,  shows  his  motive  in  publishing  his  books,  and  his  finan- 
cial expectations: 

"How  happy  would  I  be  if  your  silent  partnership  in  'the 
publication  of  my  works  on  Baptism'  held  out  any  promise  of  a 
pecuniary  return  -for  your  investment.  If,  however,  they  should 
make  a  valuable  exhibit  of  God's  truth,  that  will  be  regarded  by 
you  and  by  me,  I  trust,  as  of  more  worth  than  silver  and  gold. 

"I  hope,  before  long,  to  put  it  (the  last  volume)  in  the  printer's 
hands.  I  hope,  also,  that  the  work  (now  substantially  completed 
with  the  old  year)  will  be  accepted  of  God  as  Ilis  own  trutli,and 
will  be  used  for  His  own  honor  and  glory  I" 

His    C  Id  sing  Years. 

After  being  released  from  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Wayne 
church.  Dr.  Dale  went  to  the  Sanitarium,  at  Clifton  Springs,  N.Y., 
for  rest  and  treatment.  He  remained  there  from  November,  1876, 
until  April,  1877.  "While  at  Clilton,  he  was  supposed  to  be  rest- 
ing, but,  in  reality,  he  had  only  changed  the  place  of  his  labors. 
He  often  preached  at  Phelps,  a  short  distance  from  Clifton ;  he 
ministered  to  the  sick  and  the  troubled;  he  officiated  at  funerals 
and  at  weddings;  he  did  about  everything  that  he  was  asked  to 
do  in  the  line  of  ministerial  work;  and  he  was  so  willing  to  help 
his  fellow-men,  and  so  ready  to  sympathize  with  the  afflicted  and 
the  troubled,  that  he  did  far  more  than  it  seemed  to  his  anxious 
friends  he  ought  to  have  done.  During  the  Week  of  Prayer,  in 
January,  1877,  and  for  some  weeks  following,  he  attended  almost 


96 

daily  religious  services,  often  conducting  the  meetings,  and  usually- 
taking  part  in  them.  He  was  never  really  conscious  of  his  own 
physical  condition  and  of  the  danger  to  which  he  exposed  himself 
by  yielding  to  the  requests  of  others,  and  to  the  impulses  of  his 
own  nature  to  work,  speak  and  preach  as  he  did.  To  his  eldest 
sister,  Mrs.  Lelar,  he  writes  from  Clifton,  under  date  of  January 
26,1877: 

"I  have  wished  to  write  to  you  every  day  since  receiving 
your  letter  of  January  8th,  but  I  have  been  quite  busy.  Can  you 
believe  it?  The  same  day  that  I  received  your  letter,  the  mail 
brought  me  six,  some  requiring  prompt  and  pretty  extended  re- 
plies ;  and  then  (don't  be  frightened,)  I  have  attended  and  con- 
ducted a  meeting  every  day  since,  and  preached  twice  each  Sab- 
bath! 

"Don't  be  alarmed  at  'too  much  work.'  I  have  been  quite 
'prudent.'  It  seemed  to  me  that  now  and  here  was  just  the  time 
and  place  to  make  a  trial  of  the  results  of  a  long  rest  since  July ; 
to  begin  with  little  mental  work,  and  then  advance  to  what  might 
be  nearer  a  full  line  of  duty.  I  felt  that  if  there  should  be  any 
infirmity  developed,  I  could  fall  back  promptly  on  the  'Sani- 
tarium' close  at  hand,  and  seek  more  fully  its  restorative  influ- 
ences. Better  do  this  here,  than  wait  to  go  far  away,  where  return 
would  be  difficult  or  impracticable.  I  am  happy  to  say  to  you 
that,  after  doing  pretty  full  duty  in  the  pulpit  and  in  the  lecture 
room,  I  do  not  feel  in  any  single  particular,  either  bodily  or  men- 
tally, the  worse  for  it.     *     *     * 

"You  may  be  sure  that  I  am  acting  thoughtfully,  and  not 
heedlessly.  I  know  that  I  have  no  right  to  offer  unto  God  service 
which  He  does  not  require  at  my  hands — '  Obedience  is  better  than 
sacrifice' — and  I  have  sought  to  know  His  will,  and  believe  that 
He  has  made  it  very  plain  to  me.     I  am  entirely  satisfied  that,  if 


97 

1  should  die  in  the  work  whicli  I  have  attempted  to  do,  I  should 
be  found  in  the  place  where  He  would  have  me  to  be.  Would 
that  I  had  like  assurance  that  the  work  was  prosecuted  in  the 
spirit  it  should  be.     But  'by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am.'" 

Almost  immediately  after  his  return  from  Clifton  Springs,  he 
resumed  his  regular  work  in  the  pulpit  and  in  the  study.  He 
received  an  invitation  from  the  Session  of  the  "West  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware,  which  was  vacant,  to  supply 
their  pulpit,  which  he  accepted.  He  continued  to  preach  with 
great  acceptance  to  this  congregation  for  about  three  months. 
Strong  and  warm  were  the  attachments  that  sprang  up  between 
him  and  many  of  the  people  during  that  time.  This  was  especi- 
ally so  between  him  and  those  who  entertained  him,  from  week 
to  week,  and  who  saw  most  of  him  during  his  weekly  visits.  Few 
men  would  bear  acquaintance  better  than  Dr.  Dale.  Few  charac- 
ters would  bear  close  inspection  better  than  his.  The  more  he 
was  known,  the  better  he  was  appreciated,  and  the  more  was 
his  society  desired.  In  the  home,  as  well  as  in  the  pulpit ;  in  the 
social  circle,  as  well  as  in  the  public  ministrations  of  the  sanctu- 
ary, Dr.  Dale  endeared  himself  to  many  of  the  people  of  the  West 
church. 

During  this  time  he  also  busied  himself  with  the  work  of  an 
evangelist.  He  preached  with  great  simplicity  and  power  at  pro- 
tracted meetings,  and  in  this  way  he  was  a  valuable  helper  of  his 
brethren  in  the  ministry.  At  such  times  his  preaching  was  es- 
pecially earnest  and  impressive,  and  carried  conviction  home  to 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  his  hearers.  Many  of  the  pastors  around 
him  can  testify  to  the  great  willingness  and  cheerfulness  with 


98 

winch  Dr.  Dale  came  to  their  aid  for  a  Sabbath,  or  even  for  a  week 
or  two,  when  his  aid  was  sought. 

At  home,  in  his  study,  he  was  busy  trying  to  condense  and 
to  popularize  his  works  on  Baptism.  The  Rev.  Dr.  C.  E.  Stowe, 
as  well  as  many  others  of  Dr.  Dale's  scholarly  friends  and  admirers, 
had  expressed  the  wish  that  "out  of  this  forest  of  philological 
learning,  there  might  be,  in  due  time,  a  little  grove  selected  for 
the  security  and  comfort  of  the  unlettered  believer."  It  was  the 
intention  of  Dr.  Dale  to  make  such  "a  little  grove," in  other  words, 
to  write  a  book  on  Baptism  which  all  Christian  people  could  read 
with  interest,  pleasure  and  profit.  He  found  that  the  books  which 
he  had  already  written  and  published  could  not  well  be  abridged 
or  condensed,  without  lessening  their  value  to  preachers  and  to 
theological  students,  for  whom  they  were  especially  written.  He, 
therefore,  determined  to  prepare  such  a  popular  presentation  of  the 
subject  as  would  put  the  valuable  results  of  his  studies  within  the 
reach  of  the  masses  of  God's  people.  This  was  the  task  which  he 
had  set  for  himself,  and  on  which  he  was  engaged  when  the  Mas- 
ter called  him  to  lay  aside  his  pen  and  to  enter  upon  his  everlast- 
ing reward. 

In  his  "Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary"  sermon.  Dr.  Dale  spoke 
of  Glen  Riddle  as  a  regular  preaching-place,  "  where  we  hope 
that  a  church  edifice  may  before  long  be  erected  and  a  church 
organized."  For  many  years  Glen  Riddle  had  been  one  of  his 
stated  preaching  points.  He  lived  long  enough  to  see  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  long  cherished  hope  of  a  church  edifice  erected  and  a 
church  organized  at  that  place.  It  had  long  been  the  intention 
of  Mr.  Samuel  Riddle  to  build  a  church  in  the  community  which 


99 

his  own  energy  and  enterprise  had  established  and  reared.  For 
many  years  he  had  given  gratuitously  a  hall,  which  he  had  fitted 
up,  at  his  own  expense,  for  Sabbath  school  and  church  purposes. 
Mr.  Riddle  put  this  building,  with  all  its  appointments,  at  the 
disposal  of  Dr.  Dale  for  religious  uses.  Here  Dr.  Dale  preached 
regularly  during  the  greater  part  of  his  ministry.  As  he  was 
now  without  any  pastoral  charge  and  could  give  his  time  to  the 
Glen  Riddle  enterprise,  Mr.  Riddle  felt  that  the  time  had  come 
for  him  to  give  visible  embodiment  to  those  plans  of  which  he 
and  his  beloved  friend,  Dr.  Dale,  had  so  often  spoken.  On  one  of 
the  sites  in  his  possession,  Mr.  Riddle  erected  a  handsome  church 
edifice,  at  a  cost  of  $10,000,  which  he  freely  conveyed  as  a  gift  to 
a  Board  of  Trustees,  for  the  use  of  a  Presbyterian  church.  Tlie 
building  was  dedicated,  July  4, 1880,  to  the  worship  of  God,  the 
Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost.  On  October  19, 1880,  a  Commission 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Chester  met  in  the  new  and  beautiful  edifice 
and  organized  a  Presbyterian  church.  Fifteen  persons  united 
with  the  new  organization  by  letter  from  other  churches,  and 
five  on  confession  of  their  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  their 
Saviour.  This  was  another  glad  day  to  Dr.  Dale.  The  new  house 
of  worship  and  the  newly  organized  Presbyterian  church  were  the 
ripened  fruits  of  many  years  of  patient  waiting,  laborous  toil  and 
fervent  prayer  to  God.  He  was  young  and  vigorous  when  he 
first  ran  the  Gospel  plow  through  the  fallow  ground  at  Glen  Rid- 
dle. He  had  now  reached  the  summit  of  life  and  was  descending  the 
other  side  of  the  hill  toward  the  deeper  and  darker  shades  of  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  With  tears  of  joy  and  thanks- 
giving he  welcomed  this  new  token  of  the  Divine  favor,  this  new 


100 

seal  of  the  Divine  approbation  upon  the  work  of  his  life.  He 
had  gone  to  Glen  Riddle  through  many  a  dark  and  stormy 
night,  and  preached  sometimes  his  fourth  or  fifth  sermon  for  the 
day,  to  a  little  handful  of  hearers,  when  a  fainter  heart  would 
have  failed,  and  then  returned  through  the  darkness  to  his  own 
homo  at  a  late  hour.  If  ever  he  had  any  misgivings  in  regard  to 
the  wisdom  of  his  labors  and  exposures,  he  had  none  now.  His 
reward  was  greater  than  he  could  express. 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  death  he  continued  to  be  the  preacher 
in  charge  of  the  Glen  Riddle  congregation.  The  carriage  of  Mr. 
Riddle  was  ever  at  his  disposal  to  convey  him  to  and  from  the 
church;  the  doors  of  Mr.  Riddle's  house  and  the 'hearts  of  his 
family  were  always  thrown  wide  open  to  welcome  him ;  everything 
in  their  home  that  could  minister  to  his  entertainment  and  his 
comfort  was  made  subservient  to  him. 

His  Heath. 


Two  things  chiefly  occupied  the  mind  and  heart  of  Dr.  Dale 
during  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  These  were  the  preparation  of 
a  volume  on  Baptism  for  popular  use,  and  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
young  church  at  Glen  Riddle.  "While  thus  engaged,  the  call  came 
to  him  to  lay  aside  his  Father's  business  for  his  Father's  glory  in 
the  church  militant,  and  to  transfer  that  business  for  the  same 
great  end  to  the  church  triumphant.  The  pen,  which  had  done  so 
much  to  right  the  wrongs  of  men  and  to  promote  the  cause  of 
truth  and  righteousness,  had  made  its  last  stroke.  The  eloquent 
tongue,  that  had  so  often  spoken  in  trumpet  tones  for  Christ,  was 


101 

never  again  to  be  heard  pleading  with  men  to  be  reconciled  to  God, 
giving  comfort  to  the  sorrowing,  strength  to  the  weak,  cheer  to 
the  desponding,  courage  to  the  tempted.  The  last  conflict  was 
entered.     Victory  was  almost  won. 

His  last  illness  presents  few  items  of  interest  to  those  outside 
of  his  own  immediate  famil}' .  For  a  few  days  his  sufferings  were 
great,  but  he  bore  them  with  that  heroism  which  was  so  character- 
istic of  his  whole  life.  He  was  patient  and  submissive,  as  he 
had  always  been,  to  what  he  regarded  as  the  will  of  God.  He 
was  anxious  to  keep  the  minds  of  his  family  as  easy  as  possible 
with  regard  to  his  condition,  and  to  avoid  giving  trouble  to  his 
children  who  waited  upon  him  with  filial  tenderness.  Soon  the 
busy  brain  that  had  worked  so  incessantly  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  and  that  had  achieved  so  much,  lost  its  balance  and  refused 
obedience  to  the  master  which  it  had  so  long  served.  His  thoughts 
wandered  back  to  the  scenes  of  his  early  home,  and  to  the  work 
of  his  early  life.  Once  more  he  was  the  General  Agent  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Bi])le  Society,  distributing  and  selling  Bibles  and  reckon- 
ing their  price.  As  the  end  drew  near,  he  became  quiet  and 
drowsy.  It  was  the  calm  that  follows  the  storm.  In  that  peace 
of  mind  which  succeeded  the  weary,  restless,  mental  wanderings 
of  several  previous  days,  he  fell  asleep,  and  in  that  sleep  peace- 
fully passed  away  to  his  great  reward,  and  to  the  well-earned  ever- 
lasting rest  that  remains  for  the  people  of  God.  He  died  at  Me- 
dia, April  19,  1881,  in  the  69th  year  of  his  age,  of  the  disease 
which  had  arrested  him  in  the  midst  of  his  work  in  the  Summer 
of  1876.  As  the  news  of  his  death  sped  forth,  his  spiritual  chil- 
dren, scattered  all  over  the  community,  cried,  "My  father,  my 


102 

father."  The  churches  to  which  he  had  ministered  felt  that  a 
great  man  in  Israel  had  fallen  that  day,  and  that  they  had  lost  a 
wise,  prudent  and  faithful  counsellor.  All  over  the  county,  it  was 
felt  that  one  of  its  brightest  intellectual  and  spiritual  lights  had 
been  extinguished.  He  was  mourned  by  a  wide  circle  of  friends, 
and,  indeed,  by  a  whole  community,  who  appreciated  his  intel- 
lectual worth,  and  who  admired  his  noble,  generous,  manly  Christ- 
ian character,  and  honored  him  as  a  true  man  of  God. 

Three  children  survive  him — one  son,  who  bears  his  honored 
name,  and  two  daughters.  To  them  he  left  the  most  desirable 
legacy  that  a  father  can  bequeath  to  his  offspring — "A  good  name, 
which  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches,"  and  the  assurance 
that  for  him  to  be  "absent  from  the  body  is  to  be  present"  forever 
"with  the  Lord."  In  trying  to  measure  the  length  of  his  life,  we 
are  reminded  of  the  oft-quoted  lines: 

We  live  in  deeds,  not  years;  in  thoughts,  not  breaths; 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial. 
We  should  count  time  by  heart-throbs.    He  most  lives, 
Who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest,  acts  the  best. 

Elements  af  His  Success. 


If  the  success  of  a  man's  life  consists  merely  in  the  money 
that  he  makes  and  in  the  material  wealth  which  he  leaves  behind 
him,  then  the  life  of  Dr.  Dale  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  success,  for 
he  spent  far  more  money  than  he  ever  received  for  his  services. 
But  if  success  consists  in  the  amount  and  quality  of  the  good 
work  which  a  man  does,  in  the  benefits  which  his  life  confers  upon 


103 

mankind,  the  honor  which  it  puts  upon  God'«  truth,  and  the  con- 
tribution which  it  makes  to  God's  glory,  then  the  life  of  Dr.  Dale 
was  eminently  successful.  Though  the  greater  })art  of  it  was  spent 
in  comparative  obscurity,  it  was,  in  the  best  sense,  a  successful  life. 
Many  a  name  which,  durijig  his  own  life-time,  glittered  for  a  sea- 
son like  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude,  has  already  been  forgotten. 
The  names  of  many  pulpit  orators,  on  whose  utterances  multitudes 
hung  with  bated  breath  while  Dr.  Dale  was  toiling  away  patiently 
and  laboriously  in  the  seclusion  of  a  country  parish,  unknown  and 
unhonored,  save  by  the  select  few  who  knew  him,  will  pass  into 
obscurity,  while  his  name  will  be  held  in  remembrance  by  schol- 
ars, theologians,  preachers,  and  teachers,  for  many  generations. 
His  is  not  the  fame  of  the  blazing  meteor,  which  comes  with  a 
Hash,  and  as  suddenly  disappears;  but  it  is  that  of  the  newly-dis- 
covered planet,  which  has  come  to  gild  the  starry  heavens  with  its 
glory,  and  which  will  take  many  centuries  to  complete  its  orbit. 
Though  some  of  the  more  conspicuous  elements  of  his  character 
have  already  been  hinted  at,  it  may  be  well,  before  closing  this 
narrative,  to  tix  attention  separately  on  some  of  those  which  were 
the  basis  of  his  marked  success. 

1.  He  was  an  indefatigable  worker.  When  scholars  wrote  to 
him  that  it  was  a  marvel  to  them  that  one  who  was  a  pastor  had 
found  time  to  write  such  a  book  as  "Classic  Bai)tism,"  they  little 
thought  that  he  had,  at  that  time,  so  far  pursued  the  sul)ject  tbat 
four  other  volumes  equally  large  were  almost  ready  for  the 
printer.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  variety  and  magnitude  of 
other  labors  on  which  he  had  bestowed  much  thought  and  time. 
When  he  read  the  " I  marvel "  of  one  of  his  critics,  he  said:  "How 


104 

much  more  would  lie  marvel  if  he  knew  that  the  greater  part  of 
Classic  Baptism'  was  written  by  the  bedside  of  my  sick  wife, 
with  my  pen  in  my  hand  and  my  foot  on  the  cradle  to  keep  our 
babe  asleep."  For  many  Sabbaths  in  succession,  between  1858 
and  1860,  I  have  known  him,  in  the  morning,  to  superintend  the 
Media  Sabbath  school;  preach  in  the  Media  church;  preach,  in 
the  afternoon,  in  the  Media  jail;  superintend  the  Middletown 
Saljbath  school;  preach  in  the  Middletown  church;  hold  a  twi- 
light service  in  some  private  house;  preach  at  Glen  Riddle,  in  the 
evening,  and  then  ride  home  on  horse  back,  a  distance  of  three 
miles,  at  a  late  hour.  In  the  early  history  of  Media  he  bought  a 
few  acres  of  stony  ground,  from  which  he  dug  out  and  removed  the 
stones  and  which  he  plowed,  planted,  sowed  and  reaped  with  his 
own  hands.  At  certain  seasons  of  the  year  his  week  days  were 
mostly  spent  in  this  way,  and  a  large  part  of  the  nights  were  spent 
in  the  study.  At  another  period  of  his  life  he  added  to  the  work 
already  mentioned  the  teaching  of  a  private  school.  In  addition 
to  these  labors,  he  attended  with  great  regularity  the  meetings 
of  the  Presbytery  and  the  Synod  to  which  he  belonged  and  took 
an  active  part  in  their  proceedings.  He  also  made  and  met  many 
other  appointments  in  the  interests  of  the  church  and  the  welfare 
of  the  community.  As  much  as  of  any  man  it  may  be  said  of 
Dr.  Dale  that  he  was  "abundant  in  labors."  He  had  what  is 
sometimes  called  an  "iron  constitution."  Instead  of  trying  to 
preserve  it  and  make  it  last  as  long  as  possible  he  taxed  it  to  the 
utmost  with  all  the  work,  both  physical  and  mental,  that  it  would 
possibly  bear.  When  I  remember  the  amount  of  outside  work 
which  I  know  that  Dr.  Dale  performed,  I  am  astonished  beyond 


105 

measure  as  I  turn  over  the  pages  of  his  scholarly  books.  I  can 
scarcely  realize  that  they  are  the  work  of  the  same  man.  I  am 
surprised  that  he  lived  as  long  as  he  did.  As  one  of  the  condi- 
tions of  his  success  we  set  down  the  fact  that  lie  was  a  hard,  con- 
stant and  skillful  worker.  If  hard  work  is  the  price  of  success, 
Dr.  Dale  paid  it  in  full. 

2.  He  was  •pre-eminently  gifted  in  the  social  qualities  of  his 
nature.  This  may  seem  strange  to  those  who  only  met  him  casu- 
ally or  at  a  time  when  his  mind  was  occupied  with  some  impor- 
tant problem  of  study.  At  such  times  it  was  not  unusual  for 
him  to  pass  his  best  friend  on  the  street  unnoticed  and  unobserved. 
In  this  way  he  unconsciously  gave  offense.  In  the  social  circle, 
however.  Dr.  Dale  was  a  ready  and  a  large  contributor  to  the  en- 
joyment of  all  classes.  He  was  always  a  model  of  the  refined, 
cultured,  Christian  gentleman.  There  was  always  a  dignity 
about  his  manner  which  prevented  any  one  from  introducing  in 
conversation  with  him  any  thing  that  bordered  on  the  profane  or 
the  vulgar.  At  an  evening  company  he  was  one  of  the  most  genial 
of  ipen.  He  approached  everybody  in  the  most  pleasant  way. 
He  had  a  suitable  word  and  a  genuine  smile  for  all  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact.  He  knew  how  to  turn  conversation  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  himself  agreeable  and  the  subject  interesting 
to  the  pereon  with  whom  he  conversed.  When  he  turned  away 
to  'speak  to  another,  he  left  behind  him  the  wish  that  he  had 
stayed  longer  and  talked  more.  It  was  under  his  own  roof,  how- 
ever, as  his  guest,  orin  the  home  of  a  friend,  when  he  was  a 

guest,  that  one  saw  most  of  his  genial  character  and  social  nature. 

n 


106 

It  was  during  the  time  that  he  had  no  charge  of  his  own,  and 
when  he  spent  days  together  in  the  homes  of  his  brethren,  at 
their  request,  preaching  for  them  and  assisting  them  in  special 
services,  that  many  who  had  known  him  for  years  found  out  that 
they  had  really  never  known  him  at  all.  Having  him  in  their 
homes  they  discovered  what  was  to  them  a  new  revelation  of  his 
character — the  charming,  social  qualities  which  he  possessed. 
When  the  time  to  part  came,  it  was  found  that  he  had  captured 
all  hearts,  the  children  included,  in  the  home  of  his  brief  sojourn, 
and  that  the  farewell  words  must  be  spoken  to  one  who  was  hence- 
forth to  be  counted  among  the  absent  friends  of  the  household.  In 
his  social  intercourse  with  brother  ministers  he  never  belittled  the 
work  of  others,  nor  did  he  speak  uncharitably  or  unkindly  of  his 
co-laborers.  He  did  not  speak  so  much  of  men  as  of  the  work 
that  men  did,  as  of  the  affairs  of  every  day  life,  of  important 
institutions,  of  principles  and  of  the  great  problems  with  which 
the  moral  and  religious  world  were  battling.  There  was  a  vein 
of  humor  in  his  nature  that  spiced  his  conversation  and  which 
runs  through  the  pages  of  his  books.  He  could  be  humorous  and 
playful  and  yet  never  forget  that  he  was  God's  ambassador  to 
bring  men  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  Those  who  came  in  contact 
with  Dr.  Dale,  socially,  were  ever  after  his  life-long  admirers  and 
friends.  It  was  in  this  way  that  he  attached  to  himself,  during  the 
early  part  of  his  ministry,  the  Caldwells,  the  Leipers,  the  Crooks, 
the  Riddles,  the  Hinksons,  the  Cochrans  and  the  Beattys;  in 
later  years,  the  Blacks  and  others  at  Media ;  and  still  later,  at 
"Wayne,  such  devoted  friends  as  the  Askin,  the  Evans  and  the 
Eldredge  families.     All  these,  aiid  others,  proved  efficient  helpers 


107 

to  him  in  his  work,  at  different  periods  of  his  ministry,  and  loved 
him  with  a  loyalty  that  was  steadfast  to  the  end  of  life. 

3.  He  was  a  man  of  'positive  and  outspoken  convictions.  Dr. 
Dale  never  left  any  one  in  donbt,  who  had  a  right  to  know,  as  to 
where  he  stood  in  regard  to  important  issues  relating  to  the  com- 
munity, the  church  or  the  State.  He  had  convictions,  strong  and 
decided  on  all  important  matters.  He  was  an  exceedingly  modest 
man,  and  did  not  unnecessarily  thrust  his  opinions  upon  others; 
but,  when  the  time  came,  he  never  hesitated  to  speak  them  out. 
This  he  did  whether  he  was  in  harmony  with  the  people  about 
him  or  not.  This  trait  of  his  character  manifested  itself  in  his 
bold  advocacy  of  the  temperance  cause,  and  in  all  his  pulpit  and 
public  utterances. 

A  single  illustration  may  be  mentioned.  During  the  civil 
war  the  Ladies  Aid  Society  of  Media  had  engaged  a  lecturer  to 
give  for  their  benefit  a  steriopticon  exhibition  of  battle-fields  and 
scenes  of  the  war.  Tickets  were  sold  and  an  audience  that  filled 
the  court  room  had  assembled,  when  a  telegram  was  received 
stating  that  the  lecturer  was  unable  to  be  present.  As  a  number 
of  prominent  gentlemen  were  iu  the  audience,  it  was  suggested 
that  these  address  the  meeting  on  the  war  issues  of  the  day.  At 
that  time  the  question  of  engaging  the  negro  in  military  service 
was  before  the  country,  and  was  being  everywhere  discussed.  It 
was  one  of  the  prominent  themes  of  the  speakers  at  that  meeting ; 
and  all,  except  Dr.  Dale,  seemed  to  be  of  one  mind.  Dr.  Dale 
was  invited  to  speak,  and  took  up  the  same  topic  as  the  others 
who  had  preceded  him,  but  in  a  veryi  different  strain.  After 
some  introductory  remarks,  he  spoke  somewhat  as  follows: 


108 

Now  as  to  what  shall  be  done  with  the  negro  in  this  con- 
flict, I  differ  from  those  who  have  preceded  me.  JSTevertheless, 
when  my  fellow  citizens,  and  especially  when  my  neighl^ors,  ask 
for  my  views,  as  you  have  done  to-night,  on  any  subject,  I  am 
always  glad  to  give  them.  Two  distinct  nations  never,  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  lived  together  on  an  equality.  The  senti- 
ment of  the  nation  does  not  favor  equality.  It  must  not  be 
thought  that  I  am  opposed  to  the  elevation  of  the  negro.  I  am 
not.  I  have  received  the  black  man  into  my  pulpit,  and  have  sat 
there  with  him  while  he  has  preached  for  me.  I  have  set  him  at 
my  table,  with  my  family,  and  we  have  eaten  with  him.  He 
has  slept  in  my  guest  chamber.  Who  of  you,  who  are  here  to- 
night, have  shown  more  of  such  kindness  and  cordiality  to  the 
negro?  Still  I  am  decidedly  opposed  to  putting  into  his  hand 
the  sword  and  the  musket  with  which  to  fight  our  battles.  Three 
hundred  thousand  negro  soldiers  must  work  a  political  and 
social  revolution  in  the  land  greater  than  the  history  of  the  world 
can  show.  To  fight  the  battles  of  the  country  implies  the  right 
to  vote.  The  hand  that  is  not  too  black  to  handle  a  musket,  is 
not  too  black  to  cast  a  ballot.  This  is  just,  as  well  as  logical. 
Let  us  not  fail  to  consider  the  logical  consequences  of  the  step 
now  under  contemplation.     *     *     * 

Such  were  his  convictions,  and  though  they  were  unpopular, 
he  boldly  uttered  them.  Men  smiled  at  Dr.  Dale's  idea  of  the 
connection  between  the  musket  and  the  ballot;  but  he  was  men- 
tally or  willfully  blind  who  did  not  see  his  sincerity  and  the  posi- 
tiveness  of  his  convictions.  Thus  it  was  ever  with  him.  If  those 
to  whom  he  spoke,  or  by  whom  he  was  surrounded,  were  in  accord 
with  his  opinions,  he  was  greatly  gratified;  if  not,  he  never  con- 
cealed his  views  of  truth  and  X'ight,  but  rung  them  out  with  a 


109 

distinctness  which  made  men  clearly  understand  his  position  on 
all  important  matters.  Neither  in  the  afiairs  of  Church  or  State, 
was  it  ever  a  question  with  him,  What  will  be  acceptable  to  the 
community?  His  questions  were.  What  is  right?  What  is  truth? 
He  sought  the  answers  to  these  questions  independently,  and  the 
answers  which  he  wrought  out  in  his  own  mind,  he  unhesitatingly 
proclaimed,  at  the  proper  time  and  place,  without  regard  to  the 
favors  or  the  frowns  of  men.  This  trait  of  his  character  made 
positive  enemies  for  him,  but  it  also  made  him  many  positive 
friends,  and  commanded  the  respect  of  even  his  enemies.  This 
was  one  of  the  most  important  elements  of  his  success.  Only  men 
of  such  character  can  stand  for  so  many  years  conspicuously  in 
one  community,  and  perform  work  of  such  magnitude  as  that 
which  Dr.  Dale  performed.  The  time-server  soon  spends  his  but- 
terfly day  and  sinks  out  of  sight,  while  the  man  of  mind  and 
positive  convictions  works  on,  year  after  year,  grows  in  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  others,  and  leaves  his  impress  on  the  community 
in  which  he  has  spent  his  life. 

4.  Dr.  Dale  was  a  thoroughly  religious  man.  There  are  many 
thino-s  in  connection  with  his  work  and  diameter  that  attract  our 
admiration.  His  physical  constitution  was  so  perfect  that,  after 
the  most  laborious  work  of  the  Sabbath,  he  seldom  experienced 
what  is  known  among  ministers  as  "blue  Monday."  He  was  usu- 
ally as  fresh  on  Monday  as  he  was  when  he  began  the  work  of  the 
Sabbath.  Without  a  murmur,  he  did  the  work  of  two  or  three 
men  during  his  active  ministry.  But,  much  as  we  admire  him 
for  his  abundant  and  unwearied  labors,  for  the  numerous  sacrifices 
that  he  uncomplainingly  endured,  for  his  splendid  intellectual  at- 


no 

tainments,  and  his  powers  of  physical  and  mental  endurance,  we 
admire  far  more  the  honesty  and  simplicity  of  his  Christian  char- 
acter, his  consistent  and  conscientious  adherence  to  the  path  of 
duty  as  the  Divine  hand  laid  it  out  before  him,  his  entire  conse- 
cration to  Christ,  and  the  sweet  submission  of  his  will  to  the  will 
of  God.  Whatever  else  he  was,  Dr.  Dale  was  a  thoroughly  re- 
ligious man.  Religion  was  something  more  to  him  than  a  mere 
system  of  theology.  It  was  a  living  reality.  It  was  a  power  that 
pervaded  his  whole  being,  and  gave  tone  and  character  to  his  entire 
life.  It  was  the  centre  and  circumference  of  his  daily  living.  From 
the  very  beginning  of  his  Christian  life,  he  walked  with  God.  One 
thought  ruled  his  life.  It  was  not  self,  but  Christ.  One  aim  ani- 
mated him.  It  was  not  to  make  for  himself  a  great  reputation, 
but  to  promote  the  glory  of  God.  In  thought  and  in  speech  he 
dwelt  much  on  the  Divine  glory.  He  saw  that  glory  beaming  out 
of  every  star  and  in  every  blade  of  grass,  and  conscious  of  his  own 
sonship  to  the  Father  of  all,  and  of  his  obligation  to  Him,  he  made 
the  prayer  of  God's  well-beloved  Son  his  own,  and  often  cried; 
"Father,  glorify  Thy  son,  that  Thy  son  also  may  glorify  Thee." 
It  was  an  easy  thing  for  Dr.  Dale  to  speak  of  religion  to  others, 
because  his  own  soul  was  so  full  of  love  to  Christ.  No  one  ever 
enjoyed  intercourse  with  him,  any  length  of  time,  who  did  not 
carry  away  from  him  the  impression  that  he  was  a  man  in  holy 
communion  with  God.  In  his  religious  conversation  there  was 
nothing  forced.  The  love  of  Christ  alone  constrained  him.  It 
was  out  of  the  abundance  of  a  heart  filled  with  a  personal  sense 
of  obligation  to  the  Saviour  of  lost  sinners,  that  he  spoke  of  Him 
and  of  the  interests  of  His  kingdom  to  his  fellow-men. 


Ill 

Take  him  all  in  all,  Dr.  Dale  was  a  well-rounded  specimen  of 
Christian  manhood,  physically,  mentally,  morally,  and  spiritu- 
ally. At  home,  as  a  son  and  a  brother,  he  was  full  of  filial  and 
paternal  devotion;  as  a  husband,  faithful,  considerate  and  tender; 
as  a  father,  kind  and  affectionate.  The  motto  of  his  household 
was:  "As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord."  As 
a  citizen,  he  was  patriotic,  active  and  zealous  in  promoting  the 
highest  welfare  of  the  country  and  of  the  community.  As  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  he  was  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to 
be  ashamed.  The  value  of  such  a  man's  work  and  influence  can 
never  be  told.  The  worth  of  his  character  can  never  be  fully 
estimated.  It  is  pleasant  for  those  who  knew  him  to  cherish  the 
memory  of  his  noble,  manly  character,  made  still  more  beautiful 
by  his  acceptance  of  Christ  as  his  Saviour  in  the  dawn  of  his 
manhood,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  daily  bestowed  upon  him. 
Though  dead,  Dr.  Dale  still  lives.  He  lives  in  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  those  whom  he  led  to  Christ,  in  the  churches  to  which 
he  ministered  and  which  grew  out  of  his  manifold  labors,  in  the 
scholarly  books  that  he  has  given  to  the  world,  and  in  the  noble 
example  of  exalted  and  dignified  Christian  manhood  which  he 
has  left  behind  him. 

"Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  from 
henceforth:  yea,  8aith  the  spirit,  that  they 
may  rest  from  their  labors;  and 
their  works  do  fol- 
LOW THEM." 


SOME  IMPRESSIONS 

M  ADE    BY    THE 

CHARACTER   AND  WORK 

OF     THE 

Rev.  James  W.  Dale,  D.  D., 

ON 

OTHERS. 


115 


Impressinns  of  Dthers. 

During  the  preparation  of  this  work  the  author  wrote  to  the 
Rev.  William  11.  Hutton,  whose  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Dale  was 
somewhat  similar  to  his  own,  and  to  the  two  pastors  of  the  two 
congregations  to  whicli  Dr.  Dale  ministered  for  so  many  years, 
for  the  impression  which  his  life  and  work  had  made  upon  them. 
In  reply  he  received  the  communication  to  which  the  name  of 
each  is  attached. 

From  the  Rev.  William  H.  Hutton,  Pastor  of  the  Greenwich  Street 
Presbyterian  Chttrch,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

I  first  became  acquainted  with  the  Rev.  (then  Mr.)  Dr.  Dale  in 
November,  1859 — nearly  twenty-two  years  ago.  I  was  then  a  student 
in  the  "  Media  Classical  Institute,"  and  worshipped  in  the  Media  Pres- 
byterian church,  of  which  he  was  the  pastor.  During  the  time  I 
remained  at  the  "  Institute,"  prior  to  entering  Hamilton  College,  as  a 
guest  at  his  home,  and  as  a  regular  attendant  upon  both  the  Sabbath  and 
week-day  services  of  the  church,  I  became  familiar  with  his  labors,  and 
learned  to  appreciate  his  character.  There  were  few  men  for  whom  I 
entertained  greater  respect — few  men  who  appeared  to  me  to  labor  with 
so  little  desire  for  popular  effect,  and  so  great  a  desire  to  honor  and 
glorify  the  Master.  There  was  an  earnestness,  a  persistence,  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  work,  that,  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  immediate 
surroundings,  was  truly  heroic.    But,  to  be  more  definite  and  specific, 


116 

I  may  present,  in  bare  outline,  a  picture  of  the  man  and  his  work,  made 
familiar  to  me  during  an  acquaintanceship  of  more  than  twenty  years. 

His  Character  and  Manner. — The  first  impression  made  by  Dr. 
Dale,  upon  a  new  acquaintance,  was  not  always  the  most  favorable. 
There  appeared  to  be,  in  his  manner,  a  formality,  a  reserve,  a  lack  of 
the  genial  and  sympathetic.  But  this  was  more  apparent  than  real. 
It  arose  from  an  inherent  dignity  of  character,  and  a  certain  courtliness 
of  manner.  To  those  who  knew  him,  he  was  one  of  the  most  polite, 
genial  and  gentlemanly  of  men.  True,  he  was  rarely  demonstrative ; 
and  seldom  sought  to  make  an  impression  by  any  expression  of  mere 
sentiment.  He  was  singularly  free  from  levity;  indulged  very  sparingly 
— if  ever — in  joking;  and  was  delightfully  modest,  simple  and  unaffected, 
in  social  address.  He  had  great  reverence  for  sacred  things.  This  was  . 
quite  conspicuous  both  in  his  public  ministry  and  in  his  private  conver- 
sation. He  was  wholly  innocent  of  those  irreverent  witticisms  heard 
so  often  in  the  j^ulpit ;  and  for  the  vulgar  habit  of  punning  on  Scripture 
language,  he  manifested  a  strong  aversion.  He  was  not,  however, 
lacking  in  wit  or  humor;  and  could,  as  occasion  required,  give  expres- 
sion to  the  most  delicate  sentiments  in  the  most  appropriate  language. 
In  the  most  ordinary  intercourse,  he  neither  transcended  the  limits 
of  strictest  propriety,  nor  expressed  himself  in  phraseology  either  ques_ 
tionable  or  equivocal.  In  the  manifest  sincerity  of  his  speech,  and  the 
perfect  guilelessness  of  his  manner,  there  was  a  positive  charm.  He 
never  was  suspected  of  being  other  than  he  appeared  to  be. 

As  A  Preacher. — He  possessed  all  the  natural  qualifications  for  a 
public  speaker.  He  had  a  voice  of  great  compass,  well  trained,  and  in 
perfect  control.  His  enunciation  was  clear,  distinct;  and  his  gift  of 
language  remarkable.  His  sermons  were  carefully  prepared ;  and  were 
models,  both  as  to  the  matter  presented,  and  the  manner  of  presenting 


117 
it.  His  theme  was  the  Cross.  The  Saviour  was  magnified  in  his  min- 
istry ;  and  earnest  and  tender  were  his  appeals  for  a  life  of  obedience 
to  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  He  would  have  "every 
petition  addressed  to  the  throne  of  grace  linked  with  the  dear  Redeemer's 
name." 

Dr.  Dale  was  a  logical  preacher.  His  subject  was  so  divided  and 
subdivided,  that  the  dullest  intellect  could  not  fail  to  be  interested,  nor 
the  feeblest  memory  fail  to  be  impressed.  Then  the  style  was  simple, 
lucid,  and  the  illustrations,  beautiful,  forcible.  Some  of  those  sermons 
and  illustrations  I  can  now  recall  after  the  lapse  of  twenty  years.  The 
manner  of  delivery  was  eloquent,  impressive.  There  was,  as  the  theme 
demanded,  a  happy  alternation  and  inter-blending  of  the  calm,  the 
earnest,  and  the  impassioned.  Some  of  the  most  eloquent  and  thrilling- 
pulpit  utterances  to  which  I  have  ever  listened  were  from  the  lips  of 
our  deceased  friend.  How  the  students  did  enjoy  listening  to  Dr.  Dale 
when  he  was  thoroughly  aroused,  and  engaged  in  the  discussion  of 
some  mooted  point  in  theology!  And  how  stimulating  to  thought  were 
those  exhibitions  of  dialectic  skill,  cogent  reasoning,  and  keen  analysis, 
that  so  abounded  in  his  preaching ! 

As  A  Pastor, — In  the  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties,  his  conse- 
cration to  his  work  appeared  quite  conspicuous.  The  labors  he  was 
called  on  to  perform  were  manifold  and  exacting.  He  preached 
either  on  the  Sabbath  morning,  afternoon,  or  evening,  in  one  of  his 
many  parishes.  He  superintended,  in  some  instances,  the  Sabbath 
schools  in  connection  with  these  churches.  He  held  cottage  prayer 
meetings  during  the  week  in  houses  quite  remote  from  his  own  residence. 
He  attended  upon  the  sick,  comforted  the  afflicted,  and  buried  the  dead. 
And  these  multiplied  pastoral  duties,  so  exhausting  to  the  body,  and 
wearying  to  the  mind  he  discharged  with  rare  fidelity. 


118 

Nor  was  his  pathway  to  the  churches  where  he  preached,  or  to  the 
homes  which  he  visited,  over  smooth  pavements,  and  along  well  lighted 
streets.  lie  was  a  country  pastor;  and  country  pastors  alone  are 
familiar  with  the  hardships  incident  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  pastoral 
duties  in  a  country  parish.  Along  wind-swept  hills  and  dark  valleys  he 
passed ;  through  summer's  heat  and  winter's  cold  he  rode ;  over  dusty 
highways  and  muddy  roads  he  trod  in  the  keeping  of  his  appointments. 
In  blazing  sun  and  blinding  snow,  when  the  shadows  darkened  and  the 
stars  brightened,  he  was  faithful  to  his  trust.  How  often  he  climbed  to 
the  old  Middletown  church  when  the  wintr}'^  winds  blew  fiercely,  and 
the  falling  snow  made  white  the  surrounding  landscape !  How  often 
did  he  return  from  the  services  at  Grleu  Riddle,  in  the  calm  silence  of 
the  night,  guided  to  his  home  by  the  light  of  the  waning  moon,  or 
twinkling  stars  I  And  how  frequently  he  threaded  his  way  to  the  weekly 
prayer  meeting  along  the  crooked  and  slippery  paths,  and  through  a 
darkness  that  might,  almost,  be  felt! 

And  these  self-denying  labors  were  performed  without  the  stimulus 
of  either  a  large  salary,  or  a  very  loud  applause.  Perhaps  that  which 
appeals  to  us  most  forcibly,  and  pathetically,  in  reviewing  his  life,  is  the 
fact,  that  with  the  fruits  of  his  own  labor  he  sought  to  supplement  his 
somewhat  meagre  salary.  How  skillfully  that  clerical  spade  was  han- 
dled ;  how  carefully  the  little  farm  was  cultivated ;  and  with  what  par- 
donable pride  he  pointed  to  the  substantial  fruits  of  his  muscular 
activity  1  Still  he  never  betrayed  any  restlessness ;  nor  was  he  wont  to 
chide  his  people  for  any  seeming  lack  of  liberality.  There  was  always 
such  a  cheerfulness  in  his  manner,  that  his  lot  might  well  be  envied  by 
those  occupying  more  conspicuous  positions,  and  receiving  a  larger 
earthly  reward.  Indeed,  in  certain  features  of  his  life  and  character, 
he  recalls  that  quaint,  poetic  picture  of  the  "Village  Preacher:" 


119 

"A  man  he  was,  to  all  the  country  dear, 
And  passing  rich  with  forty  pounds  a  year ; 
Remote  from  towns  he  ran  his  godly  race, 
Nor  e'er  had  changed,  nor  wished  to  change,  his  place." 

As  AN  Author. — In  the  world  of  scholars  and  theologians.  Dr. 
Dale  is  known  by  his  published  writings.  His  substantial  volumes  on 
"Classic,"  "Judaic,"  Johannic,"  and  "Christie  and  Patristic  Baptism" 
have  extended  his  fame  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his  country  parish, 
and  won  for  him  an  eminent  position  both  as  a  controversialist,  and 
scholar.  Certainly,  few  works  recently  published  have  attracted  such 
attention,  or  received  such  commendation.  In  these  carefully  written 
volumes  are  presented  the  results  of  wide  reading,  great  research,  and 
critical  scholarship.  The  labors  of  years  greet  us  as  we  scan  these 
pages.  Here  we  find  the  fruits  of  the  most  patient,  plodding,  industry ; 
and  the  most  profound  and  protracted  study.  In  reading  these  volumes 
in  the  light  of  the  author's  surroundings,  and  manifold  duties  and 
engagements,  we  may  well  "marvel" — with  the  venerable  Dr.  Skinner — 
at  the  "labor  and  ability"  with  which  he  prosecuted  his  "masterly  dis 
cussion."  It  was  with  no  little  pride  that  the  writer — then  a  student 
in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary — introduced  "  Classic  Baptism"  to 
the  notice  of  the  learned  professors;  and  with  no  little  pleasure  he 
read  the  approving  criticisms  of  these  eminent  scholars. 

But  the  literary  labors  of  Dr.  Dale  are  not  referred  to  for  the  pur_ 
pose  of  criticism,  but  in  order  to  the  better  appreciation  of  his  charac- 
ter. He  loved  the  truth.  He  was  willing  to  make  any  necessary 
sacrifice  that  the  truth  might  be  established.  And  hence  the  labors 
performed,  and  the  self-denials  endured.  It  was  not  for  pecuniary  gain 
that  these  volumes  were  written.  It  was  not  to  win  a  reputation  for 
brilliant  scholarship  that  these  books  were  published.     It  was  emphati- 


120 

cally  to  elucidate,  and  establish  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth.  Hence 
let  his  memory  be  honored,  and  his  example  imitated,  in  the  pursuit  of, 
and  love  for,  the  truth. 

In  my  library  there  is  a  volume  presented  by  Dr.  Dale  It  is 
addressed  to  "my  friend,"  and  was  sent  to  me  from  Media  in  February, 
1861.  That  "friend"  would  now  tenderly  lay  upon  the  bier  of  his 
"friend,"  this  little  tribute  of  esteem  and  affection,  in  the  faint  hope 
that  it  may  aid  in  perpetuating  the  memory  of  one,  whose  character 
and  life  may  be  fitly  described  in  the  words  of  the  Christian  poet: 

"I  would  express  him  simple,  grave,  sincere; 
In  doctrine  uncorrupt ;  in  language  plain. 
And  plain  in  manner ;  decent,  solemn,  chaste, 
And  natural  in  gesture ;  much  impress'd 
Himself  as  conscious  of  his  awful  charge ; 
And  anxious  mainly  that  the  flock  he  feeds 
May  feel  it  too ;  affectionate  in  look 
And  tender  in  address,  as  well  becomes 
A  messenger  of  grace  to  guilty  men." 


From  the  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Jester,  successor  to  Dr.  Dale,  as  Pastor 
of  the  Middletown  Presbyterian  Church,  Delaware  Co.,  Pa, 

In  youth  Dr.  Dale  was  a  worshipper  in  the  Arch  Street  church  dur- 
ing the  days  of  Dr.  Skinner.  When  I  was  a  student  in  Union  Theologi- 
cal Seminary, Dr.  Skinner  was  Professor  there.  One  day  he  said  to  us: 
"I  will  now  recommend  to  you  some  books  on  the  subject  of  Baptism. 
I  will  mention  first  of  all  the  works  of  Dr.  Dale.  And  I  may  say  I  do 
it  with  a  little  pride.  I  call  him  one  of  my  boys,  and  I  feel  proud  of 
him.     He  was  always  in  his  place  in  the  sanctuary  when  I  was  pastor 


121 

of  the  Arch  Street  church  in  Philadelphia,  and  I  remember  that  fair 
open  face  that  was  turned  upward  to  me  with  such  interest.  But  the 
reason  I  recommend  his  books  first  is  because  he  has  gone  so  thoroughly 
over  the  field,  there  is  no  need  for  any  one  else  to  follow.  He  has 
gleaned  the  field.  His  work  is  a  master-piece."  I  told  the  incident  one 
day  to  Dr.  Dale,  and  he  said  he  remembered  him  well,  and  spoke  with 
interest  of  the  venerable  man.  And  it  may  be  said  truly.  Dr.  Dale  in 
his  youth  came  under  the  influence  of  a  most  devout,  simple-minded 
godly  man. 

He  had  a  very  tender  nature  It  is  true  he  made  no  pretensions  to 
such,  nor  was  he  anxious  about  what  people  would  conceive  him  to  be. 
Paul's  language  was  constantly  fulfilled  in  his  manner:  "But  with  me, 
it  is  a  very  small  tiling  that  I  should  be  judged  of  you,  or  of  man's 
judgment;  yea,  I  judge  not  mine  own  self."  But  underneath  all  this 
lay  a  very  warm  sympathetic  mind.  After  the  death  of  his  wife,  I 
offered  to  him  our  pulpit  to  say  what  he  chose  concerning  her.  He  re- 
plied :  "  I  always  feel  at  home  in  old  Middletown,  but  even  there  my  feel- 
ings would  overcome  me,  I  fear. "  I  told  him  the  pulpit  was  always  at  his 
disposal.  He  thanked  me,  and  said,  "  Perhaps  some  day  I  may  be 
able  to  say  something,"  but  that  day  never  came.  He  evinced  the 
same  tenderness  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  and  over  their  graves ;  and 
among  children  he  was  a  child.  There  are  many  incidents  in  the  minds 
of  others,  which  I  am  partially  acquainted  with  that  would  illustrate 
the  truth  of  this  position — the  tenderness  of  the  man.  But  how  a  man 
of  such  deep  feeling  could  dwell  apart  from  men  can  be  explained  on 
the  ground  that  he  subordinated  everything  to  a  fixed  purpose,  and 
this  is  one  element  of  his  greatness.  He  is  great  who  can  bring  every- 
thing into  subjection  to  a  sense  of  duty.  Life  is  too  diversified  for 
many  to  become  great.     The  power  of  concentration  is  wanting. 


122 

A  word  in  regard  to  his  temperance  work.  In  tliis  he  stood  head 
and  shoulders  above  all  men  in  Delaware  County.  Take  his  life  out 
of  the  temperance  cause  here  since  1845,  when  he  came  into  the  county, 
and  you  have  taken  out  the  greater  part  of  the  grace  of  God;  and 
when  that  is  taken  out  what  is  there  left  to  any  movement.  Movements 
have  come  and  gone  in  that  time,  like  waves  of  the  sea  surging  up  on 
to  the  shore  to  drop  hack  again.  Dr.  Dale  stepped  down  from  his 
heights,  welcomed  and  joined  hands  with  those  who  were  working  by 
"tidal  waves,"  as  one  was  called,  and  he  gave  permanence  to  whatever 
was  good  in  the  movement.  It  was  the  grace  of  God  in  him;  and  he 
moved  on  unshaken  in  the  temperance  work  while  these  tidal  waves 
were  falling  back  into  the  deep.  It  would  be  very  interesting  to  note  how 
many  evanescent  temperance  movements  he  has  passed  through — doing 
what  could  be  done  through  them  — seeing  them  at  last  collapse,  and 
leaving  him  alone  the  staunch  defender  of  total  abstinence.  None  of 
these  things  moved  him  from  his  fixed  principles.  He  dwelt  pre-emi- 
nently in  the  atmosphere  of  Divine  grace. 

He  was  a  man  of  self-denial.  Once  they  offered  him  $800  be- 
tween them,  Ridley  and  Middletown.  He  was  getting  $600.  He 
told  them  he  would  not  take  it.  At  that  time  Dr.  Dale  was  doing  all 
his  own  work — such  as  milking  his  cow,  and  tending  to  his  horse,  and 
other  like  deeds.  And  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Henderson,  who  built 
his  house,  that  Dr.  Dale  quarried  most  of  the  stone  for  the  foundation 
of  that  house ;  and  said  he,  "  I  have  seen  him  working  with  coat  and 
vest  off,  and  the  sweat  flowing  freely."  He  could  say  with  the  Apostle 
Paul,  "  These  hands  have  ministered  to  my  necessities."  All  this  was 
in  the  interest  of  our  Lord's  cause.  And  further,  on  his  old  list  of 
subscribers,  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  church  in  1846,  is  Dr.  Dale's  name 


123 

at  the  head  for  $50;  and  go  on  down  the  paper  and  we  find  his  name 
again  for  $50.     All  this  on  a  salary  of  $600. 

But  who  has  not  noticed  his  purity?  I  never  remember  anything 
that  had  the  slightest  approach  to  or  appearance  of  evil.  He  was  as  pure 
as  the  water  in  a  mountain  lake.  He  left  an  abiding  impression  on  the 
people  of  this  county  towards  helping  them  to  see  God. 

Of  his  writings  let  me  say,  that  I  think  the  time  has  not  come 
for  an  appreciation  of  his  works.  In  them  is  the  foundation  and  ma- 
terial for  a  defense  of  the  subject.  Men  will  hereafter  build  with  what 
he  has  gathered.  There  is  an  immense  amount  of  material  in  them ; 
indeed  all  that  can  be  gathered  on  the  subject;  and  when  the  time 
comes  for  a  re-adjustment  of  doctrinal  and  denominational  positions, 
the  works  of  Dr.  Dale  will  be  found  to  be  the  dictionary  of  the  occasion. 

He  was  the  centre  of  Presbyterian  polity  in  Delaware  County, 
pursued  a  necessary  course  to  its  developments.  He  preached  in  Ches- 
ter, when  there  was  no  sign  of  a  church  there,  and  encouraged  the 
growth  of  the  First  church  there  which  has  developed  into  three.  He 
founded  Media  church,  and  lastly  the  Glen  Riddle  church. 

All  the  qualities  that  dwelt  in  him  were  in  constant,  active  exer- 
cise. He  never  knew  what  it  was  to  spend  an  idle  moment  He  stood 
up  among  us  intellectually  and  spiritually  as  a  mountain,  and  I  esteem 
it  a  great  blessing  that  ever  I  came  under  his  benign  influence. 

From  the  Rev.  Edward  S.  Robbhis,  successor  to  Dr.  Dale,  as  Pastor  of 
the  Media  Presbyterian  Church,  Delaware  Co.,  Pa. 

My  relations  to  Dr.  Dale  were  peculiar.  1  was  his  successor  in  the 
pastorate  of  the  Media  church;  and  he  was  a  resident  of  the  town, 
and  practically  a  member  of  ni}-  congregation,  from  his  resignation  to 


124 

the  day  of  his  death.  "When  I  received  the  call  to  the  church,  one  of 
the  first  questions  I  asked,  was,  whether  the  old  pastor  would  remain 
in  the  congregation,  I  had  often  heard  of  difficulties,  and  divisions 
under  such  circumstances.  I  was  assured  that  Dr.  Dale  expected  to 
leave  Media  in  a  short  time.  Otherwise,  I  should  probably  have 
declined  the  call.  But  he  did  not  leave.  In  the  Providence  of  God 
the  way  was  closed,  and  his  plans  frustrated.  Yet  the  anticipated 
difficulties  from  his  presence  did  not  appear.  For  nine  years  he 
exerted  a  positive,  strong,  helpful  influence.  He  shewed  the  interest 
of  a  father  in  the  young  pastor.  He  made  kindly  remarks  to  others, 
some  of  which  reached  my  ears,  and  cheered  my  heart.  He  continued 
to  have  the  work  of  the  church  in  mind,  was  always  ready  to  counsel 
and  sympathize  with  me,  and  was  prompt  to  assist  in  any  way,  great 
or  small.  In  public  meetings  outside  the  church,  he  appeared  to  take 
special  pleasure  in  bringing  me  forward,  giving  the  weight  of  his  influ- 
ence in  my  behalf  This  testimony  seems  necessary,  even  though  it 
involves,  to  some  extent,  the  obtrusion  of  my  own  personality. 

There  were  certain  more  general  characteristics,  which  were  very 
marked  in  Dr.  Dale : 

I.  He  had  the  manners  of  a  gentleman.  To  some, he  seemed  cold 
and  repellent.  The  difficult}^,  however,  was  in  themselves,  their  mor- 
bid sensitiveness,  (otherwise,  undue  desire  for  attention,)  or  their 
rough-and-ready  ideas  of  courtesy.  He  was,  undoubtedly,  a  reserved 
man.  But  he  was  genial  rather  than  cold ;  attractive,  rather  than 
repellent.  There  was  no  hollow  display  of  interest  in  others.  His 
words  of  friendship  and  sympathy  were  expressions  of  genuine  feel- 
ing. He  forced  himself  upon  no  man.  No  man  ever  failed  to  receive 
a  hearty  reception  from  him.  He  was  a  pleasant  companion  in  the 
social  circle.     His  powers  of  general  conversation  were  great.     He 


125 

was  full  of  entertainment  for  young  and  old.  lie  took  active  part  in 
the  games  which  require  quickness  of  apprehension,  and  ready  wit.  He 
was  a  model  in  social  conversation ;  for  he  seldom  talked  about  persons, 
and  was  slow  to  express  an  unfavorable  judgment  of  any  one.  This 
was  specially  notable,  because  he  was  positive  in  his  denunciations  of 
all  wrong-doing. 

II.  In  intellect,  his  great  characteristic  was  intensiveness.  He  con- 
centrated his  powers  upon  the  subject  before  him.  He  was,  in  conse- 
quence, profound.  He  went  beneath  the  surface,  traced  the  accidents 
to  the  substance,  and  laid  hold  of  great  underlying  truths.  He  dwelt 
much,  in  thought  and  speech,  upon  the  glory  of  God.  To  him,  this 
was  no  abstraction.  It  was  his  every-day  meditation.  Another  result 
of  his  intensiveness  was  his  2-)ersii>tence.  His  purposes  were  neither 
suddenly  formed,  nor  easily  abandoned.  In  any  work  he  undertook, 
he  persevered.  Difficulties  daunted  him  not.  He  counted  the  cost 
clearly,  beforehand.  Thereafter,  it  was  simply  a  question  of  the  next 
step  to  be  taken.  This  intensiveness  did  not  produce  narrowness.  In 
religion,  temperance,  and  politics,  he  was  liberal.  lie  had  broad 
views  of  the  unit}^  of  all  who  trust  in  a  Divine  Redeemer.  He  was  the 
great  leader  of  the  temperance  forces  in  Delaware  county.  But  he 
based  the  duty  of  total  abstinence  upon  the  requirement  of  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  others.  He  was  misunderstood,  during  the 
excitement  of  the  late  war,  and  considered  a  sympathizer  with  seces- 
sion and  slavery.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  was  a  member  of  an  eman- 
cipation society  before  the  extreme  agitation  of  the  question  began. 
He  was  in  favor  of  peace,  as  was  every  true  Christian,  until  peace  was 
no  longer  possible.  In  politics,  after  the  war,  he  was  independent, 
thinking  too  deeply  to  be  deluded  into  voting  for  a  corrupt,  wicked 
man,  because  the  machinery  of  part}'  could  be  controlled  in  favor  of 


126 

such  a  character.  His  intensiveness  led,  also,  to  originality  He  had 
his  own  way  of  looking  at  things,  probing  them  in  all  directions,  and 
discovering  new  aspects  of  truth.  For  this  reason,  not  only  his  sermons, 
but  even  his  remarks  in  the  prayer  meeting,  were  alwajj^s  edifying. 

III.  He  had  rhetorical,  and  oratorical  gifts.  There  was  a  vein  of 
poetic  feeling  in  his  mental  constitution,  which  often  manifested  itself. 
He  had  an  extensive  vocabulary.  His  voice  was  powerful,  with  a  wide 
range  of  tone  and  expression.  At  his  best,  he  was  very  effective,  few 
men  more  so.  He  was  at  his  best  when  the  theme  of  discourse  had 
made  special  impression  on  his  own  heart,  by  reason  of  long  meditation, 
or  unusual  circumstances. 

lY,  His  heart  was  exceedingly  tender.  He  loved  his  family  with 
a  great  devotion.  He  had  a  special  interest  in  all  children;  and,  as  is 
usually  the  case,  they  knew  it,  and  came  readily  to  him.  He  was  very 
sensitive;  noting  every  little  attention,  and  feeling  any  neglect  or 
unkindness.  He  was  responsive  to  feeling  in  others;  rejoicing  with 
those  who  rejoiced,  and  weeping  with  those  who  wept.  He  was,  espe- 
cially, a  sympathizing  friend  to  all  who  were  in  trouble. 

His  religious  character  has  been  already  indicated,  by  the  various 
points  presented.  The  glory  of  God  was  his  end.  The  good  of  his 
fellow-men  was  secondary  only  to  this.  Courteous,  genial,  powerful  in 
mind  and  body,  persevering,  and  tender,  he  consecrated  all  to  the  Mas- 
ter. Those  who  knew  him  loved  him.  All  respected  him,  even  those 
who  rarely  entered  a  church.  They  felt  that  he  was  more  than  merely 
good.  They  recognized  in  him  a  manly  Christian,  one  in  whom  strength 
and  goodness  were  combined. 


127 
MINUTE  OF  THE  TRESBYTERY  OF  CHESTER. 

Prepared  by  the  Rev.  Robert  P.  DiiBois,  of  New  London,  Pa.,  and  adopted  at 
Middletown,  Pa.,  October 5,  1SS3. 
"The  Rev.  James  Wilkinson  Dale,  D.D.,one  of  the  original  mem- 
bers of  our  Presbytery,  departed  this  life,  at  Media,  Pa.,  on  the  19th  of 
April,  1881,  aged  68  years.  It  is  eminently  fitting  that  here,  at  Mid- 
dletown,  the  scene  of  his  earliest  labors  amongst  us,  and  not  far  from 
the  home  in  which  he  so  long  lived,  and  at  last  died,  we  should  put 
upon  record  a  minute  expressive  of  our  esteem  for  him  whilst  living 
and  our  respect  over  him  when  dead. 

"  Our  departed  brother  was  no  ordinary  man,  but  one  who  excelled 
in  various  directions.  As  an  early  and  steadfast  advocate  of  temper- 
ance, his  work  will  be  long  remembered  in  this  region,  and  especially  in  the 
borough  of  Media.  As  a  close  student  and  author,  his  four  exhaustive 
volumes  on  Baptism  gave  him  a  standing  and  reputation  which  pedo- 
baptist  churches  will  admire  and  fondly  cherish.  In  the  way  of  organ- 
izing Presbyterian  churches,  especially  in  Delaware  County,  he  fulfille<l 
a  mission  which  of  itself  would  have  satisfied  the  ambition  of  any  one 
man  and  which  calls  for  the  lasting  gratitude  of  our  denomination. 

"Dr.  Dale  was  a  born  orator.  In  off  hand,  effective  and  ponder- 
ous eloquence  he  had  few  equals.  This  gave  great  power  and  unction 
to  his  preaching,  and  enabled  him  often  to  move  and  sway  his  hearers 
in  a  wonderful  manner.  Besides  all  this  he  was  firm  in  his  convictions, 
a  genial  gentleman,  and  a  true  Christian  man  and  minister. 

"He  has  gone  from  amongst  us.  We  shall  no  longer  look  upon 
his  manly  form,  nor  sit  entranced  by  his  earnest  eloquence,  but  we  hope 
to  meet  him  again  where  death  shall  no  more  disturb  our  fellowship, 
and  where  he  and  we  will  abide  forever  in  the  beatific  presence  of  our 
Lord." 


128 
EDITORIAL. 

From  the  ^'■Presbyterian''''  of  April  30, 1881,  by  the  Rev.  Matthew  B.Grier,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  James  W.  Dale,  D.  D.,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Chester,  died  at  his  residence  in  Media,  Pa.,  on  Tuesday,  April  19th,  in 
the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  We  make  this  record  with  great  sad- 
ness, because  we  are  sure  that  the  church  of  God  by  this  departure  has 
lost  one  of  its  most  faithful  servants,  and  every  good  cause  a  ready 
helper  and  an  undaunted  advocate.  His  health  had  been  slowly  declin- 
ing for  some  years,  but  at  every  period  of  recovered  strength  he  gave 
himself  afresh  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and  worked  on  until  the 
Master  saw  that  the  lifelong  task  was  accomplished,  and  bade  him 
come  up  to  the  rest  and  rewards  of  heaven. 

Dr.  Dale  was  a  native  of  Delaware,  but  was  reared  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  where  he  graduated  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  1831.  His  original  purpose  was  to  give  himself  to  the  profession  of 
the  law,  and  he  began  his  studies  for  this  profession  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia.  He  abandoned  this  purpose  when  he  felt  called  to  enter 
the  ministry  of  the  Gospel.  He  entered  the  Andover  Seminary  in  1833, 
and  studied  theology  there  and  at  Princeton.  It  was  his  ardent  desire 
to  spend  his  life  as  a  missionary  in  heathen  lands,  but  in  this  he  was 
hindered.  He  never  lost  his  interest,  however,  in  the  cause  of  missions, 
and  in  one  of  the  most  effective  speeches  we  ever  heard  him  make  in 
the  Presbytery  of  Chester  he  recalled  with  great  feeling  his  early  pur- 
pose, and  the  sorrow  which  filled  his  heart  when  he  found  that  it  must 
be  given  up.  In  order  to  fit  himself  more  fully  for  missionary  work 
he  entered  upon  a  medical  course  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  at  the  close  of  the  course. 

Turning  away  from  the  foreign  field  and  his  dream  of  missionary 
life  he  gave  himself  energetically  to  ministerial  work      For  some  time 


129 

he  was  the  agent  and  advocate  of  the  Pennsylvania  Bible  Society,  and 
pleaded  for  this  cause  in  the  eastern  counties  of  the  State;  then  he 
became  pastor  of  the  churches  of  Middletown  and  Ridley,  afterwards 
changing  Ridley  for  the  new  church  at  Media,  but  continuing  in  Mid- 
dletown in  all  for  the  space  of  twenty-five  years.  In  this  time  he 
preached  in  various  parts  of  Delaware  county,  giving  himself,  with  un- 
reserved consecration,  to  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  wherever 
the  opportunity  offered.  Several  strong  and  growing  churches  started 
into  life  as  the  fruit  of  zealous  efforts  made  outside  of  his  own  field  of 
labor  In  1871  he  became  pastor  of  the  Wayne  Presbyterian  church, 
in  Delaware  county,  which  he  resigned  in  1876.  In  the  latter  years  of 
his  life  he  served  the  new  church  organized  at  Glen  Riddle,  in  Delaware 
county,  and  preached  here  until  within  a  few  weeks  of  the  end  of  life. 

In  the  midst  of  these  varied  labors  Dr.  Dale  found  time  to  pursue 
some  special  studies,  and  the  general  subject  of  Baptism  early  attracted 
his  attention.  After  years  of  patient  investigation  he  issued  the  volumes 
which  have  made  his  name  known  in  theological  circles  throughout  the 
land.  The  first  in  order  was  "Classic  Baptism"  then  "Judaic  Bap- 
tism," "  Johannic  Baptism,"  and  later  "  Christie  and  Patristic  Baptism." 
The  first  of  these  volumes  was  received  with  amazement  that  a  pastor 
of  a  village  church  should  have  the  time  or  the  inclination  to  pursue 
such  researches,  and  to  show  so  much  independent  thinking  upon  an 
old  and  well  beaten  subject.  The  successive  volumes,  as  they  were 
issued,  enhanced  his  reputation,  and  it  soon  appeared  that  on  this  sub- 
ject Dr.  Dale  was  the  first  authority  on  his  side  of  the  question  in  the 
land.  Some  of  his  positions  were  questioned  by  those  who  stood  with 
him  on  the  general  question,  but  no  one  ever  doubted  the  great  erudi- 
tion, the  dialectic  keenness,  and  the  easy  mastery  of  the  whole  litera- 


130 

ture  of  the  baptistic  controversy  which  these  vokimes  disclosed.     They 
have  been  the  armory  of  disputants  ever  since  their  appearance.* 

The  basis  of  Dr.  Dale's  character  was  honesty — honesty  of  thought 
and  purpose,  and  an  inflexible  adherence  to  his  convictions  when  fully 
formed.  He  was  never  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  but 
having  formed  his  opinions  with  candor,  and  after  patient  considera- 
tion, he  stood  by  them  without  shrinking  from  any  momentary  impopu- 
larity  they  might  bring.  He  was  for  years  a  leader  in  the  temperance 
movement  in  Delaware  county,  and  was  instrumental  in  securing  a  law 
by  which  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  were  prohibited  within  the 
limits  of  Media.  But  the  business  of  his  life,  to  which  he  gave  him- 
self without  reserve,  was  preaching  the  blessed  Gospel  of  God.  He 
loved  this  work,  and  went  far  and  wide  to  declare  unto  sinful  men  the 
mercy  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  Many  were  led  to  Christ  by  his  minis- 
try who  remember  him  tenderly  now,  and  will  be  stars  in  his  crown  in 
the  day  that  cometh. 

PHILADELPHIA  LETTER 

In  the  ^'■New  York  EvangdisV  of  April 28,  1881,  from  its  regular  correspon- 
dent, the  Rev.  William  P.  Breed,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  West  Spruce 
Street  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia. 

The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  has  very  few  such  men  to  part  with  as 
Dr.  Dale.  Owing  in  part  to  his  genuine  modesty  and  his  deep,  instinc- 
tive aversion  to  everything  like  ostentation  and  self-intrusion  upon  the 
notice  of  others,  partly  to  his  fondness  for  the  seclusion  of  the  study  and 
the  quiet  walks  of  pastoral  life,  his  career  has  been  strangely  inconspicu- 


*  Dr.  Dale  owned  the  copyright  of  Iiis  books,  which  his  family  liave  generously  assigned 
to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  1334  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  where  they  can 
now  be  obtained  at  a  greatly  reduced  price.— J.  R. 


131 

oiis.  With  qualifications  such  as  few  possess  for  the  professor's  chair,  liis 
lot  has  been  that  of  a  village  pastor.  His  spirit  jjartook  very  largely  of 
that  of  the  womau  who,  having  toiled  long  and  tenderly  in  carving 
a  small  but  beautiful  ornament  of  stone,  begged  that  it  be  wrought  into 
the  fast  rising  cathedral  spire,  and  far,  far  up  toward  the  heavens.  To 
the  remonstrance  "But  no  one  will  be  able  to  see  so  small  an  object  so 
far  up  the  spire,"  she  answered  "No,  but  God  and  the  angels  will  see 
it,"  It  seems  to  have  been  quite  enough  for  our  honored  Brother  Dale 
that  (Jod  and  the  angels  knew  what  he  was  doing.  It  is  dilllcult  to  say 
which  was  the  more  admirable,  his  fine  talents,  his  erudition,  or  his  pro- 
digious working  power.  With  a  fine  physique,  he  seemed  often  to  be 
unaware  that  he  was  encumbered  with  a  Ijody.  When  he  became  con- 
scious that  it  was  time  to  eat  or  to  sleep,  it  was  often  through  intima- 
tion from  some  member  of  his  household.  When  engrossed  in  some 
piece  of  work  weariness  seemed  to  knock  at  his  door  in  vain.  There 
was  a  time  when  he  preached  in  three  different  churches  on  the  Sabbath, 
taught  a  school  during  the  week,  and  worked  in  his  study  at  his  book 
on  Baptism  night  after  night  till  the  night  was  gone.  He  has  been 
known  to  superintend  his  Sabbath-school  at  Media,  then  preach ;  and 
in  the  afternoon  to  preach  in  the  jail,  then  go  to  Middletown,  superin- 
tend the  Sabbath  school,  and  i)rcach ;  then  hold  a  twilight  prayer  meet- 
ing, and  make  an  address;  and  then  preach  in  the  evening!  Ilis  library 
contains  a  fine  folio  edition  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers,  wliich  he 
read  as  he  read  his  own  native  tongue.  By  his  labors  in  tlie  temper- 
ance cause  he  has  laid  the  people  of  Media  under  obligations  for  which 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  would  be  but  a  small  compensation. 
When  the  borough  of  Media  was  incorporated  Dr.  Dale  b}'  herculean 
effort  succeeded  in  having  a  prohibitory  clause  inserted  in  the  charter, 
and  for  thirty  years  not  a  drop  of  intoxicating  drink  has  l)een  sold  in 


132 

that  borough  except  in  violation  of  the  charter  of  the  town  and  by 
closest  stealth.  Many  a  home  is  happy  there  to-day  which  but  for  this 
would  be  writhing  with  heartache  and  crushed  with  poverty.  When  an 
attempt  was  made  to  induce  the  Legislature  to  amend  the  charter  by 
removing  this  restriction,  Dr.  Dale  secured  letters  from  householders, 
from  teachers,  from  physicians,  and  from  magistrates,  certifying  to  the 
morals  of  the  place  and  the  desire  of  the  people  to  be  spared  the  threat- 
ened infliction,  had  them  printed  and  scattered  among  the  members  of  the 
Legislature,  and  thus  saved  the  charter.  His  books  on  Baptism  are  a 
prodigy  of  careful,  painstaking  research  and  exhaustive  exegesis.  The 
readers  of  Sir  William  Hamilton  are  often  amazed  at  the  erudition  he 
displays  in  the  tracing  of  a  word  through  all  philosophical  literature 
and  in  its  analysis.  But  Dr.  Dale  has  followed  the  word  Baptizo  through 
the  Septuagint,  through  the  New  Testament,  through  the  Fathers,  and 
through  the  Classics,  and  discussed  its  meaning  in  every  place  where 
it  occurs.  Where  else  in  literature  will  one  find  four  volumes  upon  one 
word  ?   That  work  has  been  done  by  Dr.  Dale,  and  done  for  all  time. 

An  alumnus  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  he  began  the  study 
of  law.  Arrested  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  he  devoted  his 
life  to  the  Gospel  ministry.  Appointed  missionary  to  Rajpootana  he 
began  the  study  of  the  Rajpoot  language,  and  also  studied  medicine. 
The  Missionary  Board  being  unable  to  send  him  to  his  field  he  became 
agent  of  the  Pennsylvania  Bible  Society.  To  qualify  himself  for  work 
among  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania  he  studied  the  German  language. 
For  seven  years  in  this  field  he  did  most  efficient  service  At  length 
he  was  settled  as  pastor  over  the  Ridley  and  Middletown  churches, 
and  in  this  general  field  he  continued  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He 
built  five  churches,  and  was  instrumental  in  building  others.  On  Mon- 
day night,  the  18th  inst.,he  breathed  his  last  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of 


133 

his  age,  and  on  the  following  Friday  a  large  company  of  people  inclu- 
ding many  ministers  followed  his  remains  to  the  grave.  Some  one  has 
said  that  no  man  ever  did  as  much  as  he  could.  This  cannot  be  said 
of  our  departed  friend  and  brother.     He  did  what  he  could. 

Public  Memorials. 


MONUMENT  IN  MIDDLETOWN  GEAVE-YARD. 

When  Dr.  Dale  died,  it  was  felt  by  his  numerous  friends,  in  Dela- 
ware county,  that  there  ought  to  be  some  permanent  and  i)ublic 
memorial  erected  to  the  honor  of  his  memory.  There  were  many  who 
knew  that  the  indebtedness  of  the  people  among  whom  his  life  had  been 
spent  was  very  great.  The  value  of  his  public  services  rose  before 
their  minds  in  such  magnitude  that  it  was  felt  that  something  must  be 
done  to  give  expression  to  their  appreciation  of  his  superior  character 
and  his  unequaled  work,  in  Delaware  county. 

A  public  meeting  was  called,  at  the  old  Middletown  church,  to 
decide  upon  the  form  of  the  memorial  and  the  best  method  of  raising 
the  money  necessary  to  secure  whatever  might  be  determined  upon.  It 
was  decided  to  erect  a  monument  beside  his  grave  in  the  Middletown 
grave-yard  and  committees  were  appointed  to  solicit  subscriptions,  to 
select  the  monument  and  to  see  to  its  erection.  The  following,  in 
regard  to  the  completion  of  this  undertaking,  is  clipped  from  the  Dela- 
ware County  Republican  of  August  18,  1882: 

The  monument  to  Rev.  James  W.  Dale,  D.D.,  at  his  grave  in  the 
cemetery  of  the  Middletown  Presbyterian  Church,  is  now  completed.  It  is 
an  excellent  piece  of  work  and  consists  of  six  blocks  of  Quincy  granite;  the 
base  being  dressed  from  a  stone  six  feet  square  by  two  feet  thick.  It  is  well 
proportioned,  massive,  with  the  shaft  polished  on  its  four  sides.     The  in- 


134 

scriptions  on  the  shaft  are  simple  and  appropriate.  On  one  side  are  these 
words:  "James  W.  Dale,  D.D.,  born,  October  16,  1812;  died,  April  19,  1881; 
erected  by  his  friends  in  remembrance  of  his  life  long  labors  in  the  Gospel 
and  in  the  cause  of  temperance."  On  the  opposite  side,  are  these  words: 
"  Pastor  during  his  35  years  ministry  in  Delaware  county,  of  Kidley  and 
Middletown,  Media,  Wayne,  and  Glen  Eiddle  churches.  On  the  other  two 
sides  are  quotations  from  Scripture,  one  reads  thus:  "I  have  fought  a  good 
fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge, 
shall  give  me  at  that  day,  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love 
his  appearing."  The  other  quotation  runs,  "Let  us  not  therefore  judge  one 
another  any  more,  but  judge  this  rather,  that  no  man  put  a  stumbling-block 
or  an  occasion  to  fall  in  his  brother's  way.  It  is  good  neither  to  eat  flesh, 
nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  anything  whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is  of- 
fended or  is  made  weak."  Dr.  Dale's  character  is  expressed  admirably  by 
these  two  quotations.  It  is  true  they  express  opposite  qualities;  on  the  one 
side  you  see  a  fighter  is  spoken  of,  and  that  was  Dr.  Dale.  He  would  fight 
a  "good  fight"  to  the  end,  if  he  conceived  it  so.  On  the  other  side,  a  man 
is  spoken  of  who  would  go  out  of  his  way  rather  than  ofiend.  These  two 
opposite  qualities  were  united  in  him.  Wherever  a  principle  was  involved, 
he  would  fight  a  good  fight:  but  where  a  man  in  his  weakness  was  involved, 
he  was  as  tender  as  a  child.  He  was  an  orator  in  describing  the  horribleness 
of  intemperance,  yet  no  man  ever  said  kinder  words  at  the  grave  of  an  in- 
temperate man.  The  monument  itself  is  well  proportioned,  the  work  of 
Mr.  Rawnsley,  of  Chester.  The  cost  of  the  monument  was  something  less 
than  $1,000,  which  was  contributed  by  his  friends,  under  the  management 
of  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Samuel  Riddle,  David  Trainer  and 
John  C.  Beatty.  We  are  of  opinion  that  the  verdict  of  the  people  will  be 
that  they  have  done  their  work  wisely  and  well. 


135 


TABLET  IN  THE  MEUIA  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

The  congregation  of  the  Media  Presbyterian  church  also  erected  a  tal^lct, 

at  the  pulpit  end  of  their  church.     The  material  is  of  marble, 

of  two  kinds,  Tennessee  and  white.     The  inscription 

is  in  letters  of  gold,  and  reads: 

In  Memory  of 
James  W.  Dale,  D.D. 

Founder  and  First  Pastorof 

THIS   CHURCH. 

1854-1872. 

"Father,  glorify  thy  name." 

John   12:   28. 


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